SUDDEN SILENCE
The Case of the
Murdered Band-Leader





SUDDEN SILENCE
The Case of the
Murdered Band-Leader
By
CORTLAND FITZSIMMONS
Author of "The Moving Finger," "The Whispering Window,"
"Crimson Ice," etc.

FREDERICK A. STOKES
NEW YORK
COMPANY
MCMXXXVIII


Copyright, 1938, by Cortland Fitzsimmons
All rights reserved. No part of this
work may be reproduced without the
written permission of the publishers.
Printed in the United States of America


To
RICHARD ENGLISH
WHO FIRST CONCEIVED THE IDEA
OF A MURDER IN A DANCE BAND





■ 1
/
The characters and situations in this book are
wholly fictional and imaginative; they do not portray,
and are not intended to portray, any actual persons
or situations.





SUDDEN SILENCE
i
By a clever ruse
Hal Harrison and his orchestra had left the hotel
avoiding the mobs of curious people and autograph
seekers who were as constant as the changing tide
whenever he made a public appearance. But in spite
of their trick and the vigilance of Maxie Blake, his
business manager, the telegram, which was a prelude
to adventure and the cause of much of the trouble
which followed the murder, was delivered to Hal
Harrison in person at the railroad station in Portland,
Oregon.
Maxie was busy directing luggage-laden porters
when he saw the messenger-boy approach Hal and
deliver the message. Hal tossed the boy a quarter,
ripped open the envelope, read it quickly, crumpled
it angrily into a tight ball and jammed it into his
coat pocket.
"Now what?" Maxie mumbled as he watched Har-
rison, expecting a tirade to break over his head at any
moment. In his long experience with famous musi-
cians, stars and great impresarios he had learned to
expect and deal with temperament. In fact, anything


2 SUDDEN SILENCE
which deviated slightly from the normal, no matter
what it was, Maxie called temperament.
Hal Harrison had none of the traits of a bad-
tempered prima donna. To his credit let it be said
that his temper was quick rather than bad. Small
things did annoy him and most of all he resented the
incursions into his private life which had followed
his sudden rise to fame, not only in the United States
but, because of radio, all over the world. He was
constantly besieged and beset by fanatics who wrote,
wired and tried to see him personally. Except for
sentimental women, most of the people who annoyed
him had something they wanted to sell or some
worthy cause which they hoped to promote with Har-
rison's money.
As Maxie waited for the angry storm which did
not break, he dispatched the last load of luggage to-
ward the train. As he hesitated a moment before
approaching Hal, he saw him take the message from
his pocket and reread it. Maxie moved forward
doubtfully, not quite certain of the reception he
would receive. Hal's eyes and the slight twist of his
mouth indicated bitter resentment. When Maxie
reached his side Hal turned and said with icy calm,
"Let's get aboard," and moved down the long plat-
form toward the car which had been reserved for
himself and orchestra.
"Well, we fooled the crowds this time," Maxie


SUDDEN SILENCE 3
remarked with satisfaction as he climbed into the
car behind Hal and looked back at the few scattered
groups of people who seemed totally unaware of the
fact that the famous Hal Harrison was boarding the
Cascade Limited on his way to San Francisco.
Hal mumbled a reply—a bad sign. Maxie was de-
termined to make conversation, hoping in that way
to make Hal forget the thing which was so obviously
annoying him.
"That dummy bus idea of yours was great, Hal,"
h^said flatteringly. "This is the first time we've been
able to leave a town comfortably on this whole trip.
I don't see why you didn't think of it before," he
prattled on as they moved down the aisle of the car
past chatting groups of musicians who were busily
preparing for their night's ride.
Hal made no reply as he moved toward his drawing-
room. The knotted wad of paper which his fingers
rolled about in his pocket was occupying his thoughts.
In the drawing-room, with the door closed behind
them, he refused to speak. He paced up and down
the narrow space, bumping into Maxie, who had
given up his efforts at conversation and was vainly
trying to stow Hal's personal luggage.
With the last piece of luggage beneath the seats,
Maxie flattened himself against the side wall and de-
manded, "Why don't you spill it? There's no point
in letting one telegram eat you up. What's in it?"


4 SUDDEN SILENCE
He had reached a high point of annoyance with Hal
and his gloomy silence.
Hal drew the ball of paper from his pocket and
tossed it to Maxie, who caught it in mid-air. Maxie
smoothed the crumpled wad and read:
IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE STAY AWAY FROM
SAN FRANCISCO
Maxie's amazed whistle was long and loud. He
reread the warning before he handed it back to Hal.
"Well?" Hal demanded.
"Nothing to worry about," Maxie said thoughtfully
with an assurance he did not feel. "It was probably
sent by some nut."
"Then it's the first of its kind."
"Why should anyone send you a telegram like
that?" Maxie insisted. "It may be some guy who is
jealous because his girl raves about you."
"I wish I thought so."
"Say, are you taking it seriously?" Maxie demanded.
"I thought I was the gloomy one in this outfit."
"I don't like it," Hal replied.
"Neither do I, but hell, it's just one of those things.
Why, it was sent by a piker!" Maxie said disparag-
ingly. "There's less than ten words in the message.
A man who counts his pennies over a thing like that
isn't really serious."


SUDDEN SILENCE 5
"It's a very exact message. 'If you value your life
stay away from San Francisco,' " Hal quoted, count-
ing the words on his fingers. "It just fits the case.
No more words were needed."
"Yeah, but who do you know in San Francisco?"
Maxie demanded.
"Chubby Carlton, Rex Kingford, Chick Stoner and
Phil Martin," Hal replied.
"They might be a little jealous of your success as
compared to theirs," Maxie admitted, "but they
wouldn't want to murder you. Not even Phil
Martin, who has always been a sore-head."
"He wouldn't have nerve enough, but Kingford
might."
"What would he gain by it?" Maxie demanded.
"Listen, you're tired. You shouldn't let a thing like
this get under your skin."
"Would you like to receive a message like that?"
Hal demanded. He opened the door leading into
the main part of the car and looked down the aisle.
"Aw, somebody's trying to scare you, if anything!"
Maxie deprecated.
"Scare me?" Hal demanded. The thought was a
new one.
"Sure. To keep you away from San Francisco for
some reason or other."
"As if I'd let a thing like that scare me!" Hal said,
his mood changing.


SUDDEN SILENCE 7
aspirin tablets which he always carried in his coat
pocket. Maxie was an aspirin addict. He took a pill
on the slightest provocation, believing they helped
to keep him calm.
"Are you trying to suggest, in your sly way, that
we quit?" Hal asked with a smile.
"Quit?" Maxie repeated. "I'm no quitter. I like
a fight as well as the next one," he said defensively.
"Only . .
"Only what?"
"Enough is enough. If we get into a jam in San
Francisco, we'll lose out on your new contract. Hig-
gins is a queer man. He'll stand for no nonsense."
"Let Higgins go fly a kite!"
"Now, you don't mean that," Maxie remonstrated.
"You're not big enough, yet," he added quickly lest
he offend Hal. "Every radio star in the country
would like to get the Higgins spot and you know it.
You can't afford to have Higgins let you down. It
would give everybody the idea that you were slip-
ping."
"Me slipping!" Hal scoffed. "I'm on the way up!"
"That's just the point," Maxie agreed. "You've
got a long way to go if you're careful and you've got
to be careful. You can't fool with a man like Hig-
gins. He doesn't care who you are. He puts up the
money. He runs his business and his hour the way
he wants it run because of the purity of his product.


8 SUDDEN SILENCE
We can't have anything go wrong now. As it is,
we're cutting things too fine. We get into San Fran-
cisco tomorrow evening, play two nights and then fly
back to New York. Suppose there's fog or bad flying
weather, we'll be late, and if we are, Higgins will
cancel the contract. You know he didn't want you
to make this trip."
"And what has your sermon to do with the tele-
gram which we were discussing?" Hal asked with an
amused grin.
"I don't want you going around San Francisco
sticking that telegram under people's noses and ask-
ing them if they sent it. Try to control your temper,
will you?"
"You know it's only the small things which really
make me mad," Hal replied.
"Yeah, I know it, but does anyone else when you
fly off the handle?"'
"Can't I live a life of my own? Can't I have any
normal reactions? Do I have to submit to this sort
of thing without taking action?" Hal demanded.
"You do when you're a 'dream man,' " Maxie an-
swered with a slight smirk which curled the corners
of his otherwise gloomy mouth.
"One more crack like that and I'll treat you to a
display of my temper," Hal warned. The one thing
that annoyed him more than anything else since his
rise to fame was the appellation of "dream man"


SUDDEN SILENCE 9
which a gay young reporter had used after Hal's first
big public appearance. The name had stuck, other
reporters had pounced upon it, and during Hal's early
days of popularity over the air announcers had used
it until Hal's protests became more than mere vehe-
ment utterances.
Maxie pulled back out of Hal's reach. "You're
too free with your fists," he said with a wary eye on
those hands which he had seen fly into action too
often to suit him. "Fighting don't prove nothin'."
"It's the only langauge some people understand.
I'm going to San Francisco and I'm not going to be
mollycoddled by you, understand?" he demanded.
"Thought I'd quit, did they?" He returned to the
thought of the telegram.
"May I come in?" a cheerful voice asked from the
doorway.
"You are in," Maxie replied sourly. "What do
you want? Didn't we give you all the news you
wanted up at the hotel?"
"Sure! sure! And don't ever let anyone tell you
that Roger Brown doesn't appreciate a break. That's
why I'm here. Those people waiting up at the hotel
are going to be awful disappointed, Mr. Harrison."
"Why ain't you up there to write a story about
their sorrowful faces when they learn that the great
Hal Harrison slipped away from them?" Maxie asked.
"I'm gonna write that. Don't worry, Maxie old


io SUDDEN SILENCE
boy. That'll be in, but at the moment there's other
fish to fry." He pulled some papers from his pocket
and sorted them quickly as he talked. "We just had
a dispatch from San Francisco. I wanted to get the
lowdown on it before you left town." He handed
Hal a slip of paper on which several lines of tape
message had been pasted. "Take a look," he sug-
gested to Maxie who was bending over Hal's shoulder
to read.
PHIL MARTIN, POPULAR SAN FRANCISCO BAND LEADER
AND ONE-TIME MEMBER OF HAL HARRISON'S ORCHESTRA
TO BRING SUIT AGAINST HARRISON FOR ONE MILLION
DOLLARS. DAVE FIELDS, MANAGER OF THE CRYSTAL,
GARDENS WHERE HARRISON IS TO APPEAR FEARS HARRI-
SON WILL NOT KEEP HIS SAN FRANCISCO CONTRACT.
When Hal looked up from the message Brown
asked eagerly, "Did I just overhear you say you
wouldn't quit?"
"I'm not quitting. I'll be in San Francisco. This
is the Cascade Limited, isn't it?"
"Sure, but you could arrange to get to Sacramento
and go East from there."
"I'm not going East. I keep my contracts. It'll
take more than Phil Martin to keep me out of San
Francisco. If he's looking for trouble, he's going to
get it this time. I'm getting sick of him and his suits.


SUDDEN SILENCE n
If he isn't careful, he'll be sorry he ever tried to cross
me. I'll fix him!" he ended with grim determination.
"Is that a statement for the press or just blowing
off steam among friends?" Brown asked with a grin.
"It's steam," Maxie said quickly, scowling at Hal.
"It's a statement," Hal contradicted, ignoring
Maxie's hush-hush signals.
"No!" Maxie cried.
"Go ahead," Hal instructed Brown. "Get it in the
morning papers, then Martin and all of San Fran-
cisco will know exactly how I feel."
"Don't print that!" Maxie continued to protest to
the reporter.
Brown hesitated.
"Go ahead!" Hal repeated. "Spread it!"
Maxie had been fumbling with his bottle of aspirin
tablets. He extracted one from the bottle and flipped
it into his mouth. With a gulp he swallowed the
dry pill. "You're crazy," he muttered. "Plain stark
crazy!"
Further discussion of Hal's sanity was cut short by
the cry of, "Board, all aboard!" which came faintly
from the platform below.
"Thanks, Harrison," the reporter cried and scut-
tled for the door as the train began to roll.
Maxie flattened his nose gloomily against the pane
and saw Brown racing across the station platform.
"Now you've done it," he complained. "The fat's


12 SUDDEN SILENCE
in the fire for sure. Why couldn't you have kept
quiet? There's no point in making things worse than
they are. They get bad fast enough!"
"How do I know that Martin hasn't been the cause
of all the trouble we've been having en route?" Hal
asked.
"How could Martin have done those things?"
Maxie asked with disgust.
"You can frame anything these days if you know
how to do it," Hal replied, "and you know it. That
woman in Detroit who insisted I was the father of
her unborn child could have been a plant of Mar-
tin's."
"I thought Higgins was through with us when that
broke," Maxie laughed. "Was he burned!" His
smile faded. "The woman was a nut, Martin had
nothing to do with it."
"How about the pest who wanted an X-ray of my
throat?"
"She was just another nut."
"And the riot in Chicago? Those frenzied women
who tried to tear me limb from limb. Who started
the riot? Some women or woman who was planted
in the crowd, of course. Women never acted like
that before. And what did the papers call them?"
he demanded. "'Hungry Hearts Seeking Their
Dream Man,' " he repeated with disgust. "I tell you
Martin has been trying to queer me all along the


SUDDEN SILENCE 13
line and now he threatens to bring suit hoping in
that way to keep me out of San Francisco. He's
afraid of being shown up. He doesn't want to sue,"
he ended positively.
, "Don't be too sure of that," Maxie protested.
"Martin's always had a yen for money, your money."
"Well, he won't get it! I'll see to that! Trying
to queer my tour and spike my guns with Higgins!"
"You're just loco on the subject of Martin. You
know very well he had nothing to do with the young
debutante in Cleveland who threatened to commit
suicide unless you married her on the spot. And,"
Maxie raced on as Hal tried to argue, "do you think
Martin is behind Mrs. Llewellyn Paxton and her
crazy idea that you must play for that goofy Benefit
of hers?"
"She's a nut, but she's perfectly harmless," he dis-
missed Mrs. Paxton. "I'm not talking about silly
women. Just the ones who have tried to hold up
the trip," Hal explained.
"And what of Mrs. Paxton's daughter?" Maxie de-
manded.
"A nit-wit, just like her mother, only prettier, of
course," Hal replied.
"You're wrong, definitely wrong." A voice startled
them from the doorway. "She's prettier than her
mother, I'll admit that, but she isn't like her mother,
not a little bit. Mrs. Paxton is a flutterer, but the


14 SUDDEN SILENCE
girl knows definitely what she is doing and gets it
done. You don't suppose for a moment, do you, that
the ingenious tricks pulled by those two women were
the product of Mrs. Paxton's thoughts?"
It was Mary Dale who spoke. She was a blonde,
slim and trim as a racing craft. Her soft husky voice
and warm friendly eyes had made her the leader
of the famous Dale Sisters Trio which had been
associated with Hal from his early days. As Hal's
popularity increased, the Dale Sisters became pro-
portionately famous.
Hal smiled a welcome to her. "Come in," he in-
vited.
"For a moment," she replied.
"Sit down," Maxie suggested. "You certainly pol-
ished off the Paxton women."
"I'd like to know the girl better," Mary said.
"Well, I wouldn't," Hal muttered. "She gets in
my hair, and while we're on the subject," he gave
Maxie a sharp look, "it's up to you to see that I'm
not annoyed by either one of them again."
"I guess we've shaken them at last," Maxie said
hopefully. "I didn't see them in Portland at all.
They weren't at the station. They've probably given
up."
"After having followed you across the country?"
Mary cried. "Not if I know the type and I think I


16 SUDDEN SILENCE
picked up the strip of paper. Perhaps it was the
color of the paper or more likely it was the long
string of letters which attracted his attention and was
responsible for his reading the words which said:
KEEP HIM AWAY FROM SAN FRANCISCO
There was no doubt in Maxie's mind about the
message and the him of the telegram, part of which
he held in his hand. He closed the door and handed
the slip to Hal.
"Then there is a leak in the band," Hal cried.
"Who is it?"
Maxie shrugged.
"Where did you get this?"
Maxie explained.
"Who was at the door?" Hal demanded.
"Mary, Joe, Buck, Charlie, Scat Miller and Tony.
Oh yes, Jerry was there too but he was in the back."
"Well, Mary and Joe are out. It must be one of
the others. Keep your eyes and ears open. Don't let
on that we suspect anything and we'll catch whoever
it is, cold. I don't want anyone who's mixed up with
Martin in my orchestra."
"And after the royal way you treat the boys too,"
Maxie muttered. "I don't see how one of them could
do it."
"Never mind that. I'm not looking for gratitude


SUDDEN SILENCE 17
but I do expect loyalty as long as I pay them a salary.
Forget it! I'm turning in."
As they undressed, Maxie said thoughtfully, "I
wish you hadn't spoken so openly to the reporter. It
won't do no good."
"It's always a good idea, Maxie, to carry the fight
to the other man's corner," Hal said with a grin.
"Don't talk any more. I'm tired."
He spoke the truth. He was worn out. It was his
first trip across the country with his famous Harmony
Men. It had been a long series of one- and two-night
stands playing to capacity houses, to say nothing of
the curious public which dogged his steps wherever
He went. Since his sudden rise to fame he had re-
ceived thousands of requests for his photograph, but
he had had no idea that in every village, hamlet and
farm he was the phantom lover, the Prince Charming
of the air. He knew that women liked him but until
he made the trip he had no idea what their adoration
could be like.
At heart Hal was an ordinary man with a fairly
good singing voice. He had not planned to become a
celebrity. When he left college he hoped to make
some money, marry, settle down and raise a family.
But fame, overtaking him unexpectedly, had spoiled
his plans. At first he liked and enjoyed his popu-
larity. Then it began to make his life involved. The
money he made so quickly became a great responsi-


18 SUDDEN SILENCE
bility in itself and necessitated his keeping a staff to
look after his affairs.
As his fame increased, his private life vanished, tak-
ing his dreams with it. He became a public figure.
No matter where he went he became the center of
an eager, curious crowd. He once said to Maxie
that he was heartily sick of seeing so many tonsils
which were always on view as people gaped up at
him, their mouths open.
There were times when he thought he would retire,
he had enough money, but it wasn't as simple as that.
There were about a hundred people who depended
upon him for their livelihood. He knew he couldn't
quit and leave them dangling in mid-air looking for
work. As long as the public demanded his particular
talents he felt he must carry on.
There were times when he was very lonely in the
midst of the crowds which constantly*surrounded him.
There is no warmth or companionship in a mob of
people. Maxie was always with him and Maxie was
all right but Maxie was a business man thinking of
box-office first, last and always. Hal wanted a home.
He wanted real friends.
He had acquaintances, countless numbers of them,
but they were just people who used him. He met
hundreds of women, but they seemed to be interested
in Hal Harrison the orchestra leader, the man with
the dream voice rather than the Hal Harrison he


SUDDEN SILENCE 19
knew still lived and waited behind the wall of pub-
licity which had been built around him. Hal wanted
some girl to love him for himself and not for what he
had or represented.
Secretly, he was romantic enough to believe that
some day, somewhere he would find the girl. His
father had once said to him, "Son, when you find a
woman who'll go through hell's fire for you, get mar-
ried. If you'll take my advice, which I doubt, you'll
wait. It's worth it. Your mother was like that."
Hal had waited. There were times when he
thought he would go off alone somewhere and meet
people as a plain ordinary man. He wanted to con-
vince himself that he still had those qualities which
make a person interesting to others because of what
they are rather than what they do.
Before he fell asleep that night he thought of San
Francisco, the romantic city of the West. All his life
he had wanted to see the Golden Gate. It would
take more than Phil Martin and a threat to keep him
from realizing that dream.
Late the next afternoon before they pulled into
Oakland, Maxie glumly handed Hal a copy of an
early evening paper, saying, "Now, you've done it.
Wait till Higgins sees that. He'll probably cancel
our contract."
Hal smiled as he read the paper. It contained a
rehash of the old quarrel between himself and Phil


20 SUDDEN SILENCE
Martin and ended with Hal's threat greatly enlarged
and elaborated.
"What are you crabbing about?" Hal asked with an
amused grin. "You're always looking for publicity,
aren't you?"
"Yeah, but not this kind. Remember now, no
matter what happens I want you to hold your temper,
no fights."
"I'm rested, Maxie. I'll be good," Hal promised.
"Even if he calls you a sissy?" Maxie insisted be-
cause he knew that was the one thing that infuriated
Hal more than anything else.
"Well . . ." Hal temporized.
"You don't want us to go on relief, do you?" Maxie
asked.
"I'll be a good boy, Maxie. Don't worry about me.
I had a good sleep. I'm feeling fine and just across
the bay is the Golden Gate and one of the most
romantic cities in the world."
Maxie peered through the window. Across the
bay the slanting rays of sun painted buildings and
housetops in a bath of orange-gold. Behind the city
the fog rolled in from the Pacific, trickled over the
Twin Peaks, blocked out the sun and changed the
golden light to drab gray.
"I don't like it," Maxie complained.
"But you haven't seen it. There are all sorts of


SUDDEN SILENCE 21
things to do and see. I'm going to be very busy. I've
always wanted to see Chinatown."
"I don't mean the city. I mean that fog-bank roll-
ing, in shutting out the sun. It's a warning. I wish
we'd never come to this town. The minute I saw
that cross-eyed girl this morning at breakfast I knew
we were heading for trouble," he replied dolefully.
"Forget it!" Hal was all agog as he watched the
changing skyline across the bay.
"Do you think I ought to tell the police?" Maxie
asked.
"Tell them what?"
"About the threat, of course!"
"We've nothing to worry about," Hal assured him
brightly. "We weren't wrecked coming down. We'll
be in the midst of a crowd of people once we get off
the train."
"Yeah, but he might try to do something to you.
You never can tell."
"Not Phil! He's too smart! He'll pick a nice
quiet time when he'll be perfectly safe, that is, if he
does anything at all, which I doubt."
"I wouldn't be too sure of myself if I were you,"
Maxie advised gloomily as he turned to direct the
porter with their luggage.
"A murder might liven things up a bit," Hal sug-
gested.


II
There hadn't been
as much excitement in San Francisco since the open-
ing of the bridges. Hal was impressed and pleased
with his reception. Dave Fields, the manager of the
Crystal Gardens, was in Oakland to meet him with
some city officials.
When the ferry docked at the foot of Market Street,
it took a determined police escort to get him safely
from the boat to the waiting limousine. Not even
the mobs in Detroit or St. Louis could compare with
the horde of frenzied women eagerly waiting to catch
a glimpse of him. While Hal was being delayed by
the official reception Maxie and the band preceded
him to the hotel.
From the Ferry Building to the Palace Hotel,
Market Street was lined with curious crowds. Across
the widest and busiest street Hal had ever seen, great
banners swung from building to building. They
read:
Tonight and Tomorrow Night
at the Crystal Gardens!
HAL HARRISON
and
HIS HARMONY MEN
In Personl
aa


SUDDEN SILENCE 23
The police escort with sirens screaming cleared the
way. They passed signs, placards, posters and huge
billboards from which Hal's picture smiled down at
the packed throngs lining the curbs. It was a great
reception and a grand show. Hal bowed and smiled,
outwardly pleased. Inwardly, however, he sighed.
Two nights in San Francisco and then he'd return to
the comparative peace and quiet of New York. Only
two more days of being a goldfish, he kept assuring
himself as they neared the hotel.
The police and hotel staff did their best to keep
back the surging, excited autograph seekers, but in
spite of their efforts Hal lost his topcoat and hat before
gaining the security of the elevator on the ground
floor.
When the lift stopped at the fourth floor, he heard
the tinkling notes of a piano. He knew what that
meant. The members of the band had preceded him
from the station. Maxie would be holding one of his
usual publicity receptions for the members of the
press.
He was right. His suite was a mass of musicians
and reporters. Joe Stevens, the pudgy arranger, was
pounding out a new orchestration to give the as-
semblage color. Maxie, glum as usual, was like a
spectre at the feast as he scurried about pouring con-
viviality to the members of the press.
Hal's appearance was greeted by a shout and a toast


24 SUDDEN SILENCE
proposed by Jimmie Farr, crack reporter on San
Francisco's leading paper, the Crescent.
In the next ten minutes, Jimmie Farr managed to
get Hal into a corner and asked him if he had any
statement to make relative to Phil Martin.
"None," Hal replied.
"Phil Martin says if you're looking for trouble,
you'll get it," Farr offered suggestively.
"I'm not looking for trouble," Hal replied quietly.
"There is no reason why my two-night stand in San
Francisco should cause any. I'll mind my business
and if Martin keeps quiet, everything will be all
right."
"Do you want to deny the statement published in
the Portland paper?" Farr asked.
"No. Let that stand. I meant it. If you want to
print something new say I'm looking forward to my
stay in San Francisco and am happy to be here."
"How about that threatened suit of Martin's?" Farr
asked.
"Just a bluff. Makes nice publicity," Hal replied.
"The old bologna, eh?" Farr grinned.
Hal's attention was diverted to a man who stepped
up and called him by name. Always polite, Hal
greeted the newcomer cordially. His quick temper
flared the next minute, however, when he realized
that the smooth stranger had just served him with a
warrant in connection with Martin's suit.


26 SUDDEN SILENCE
with a grin as he returned the telegram. "Better
have dinner sent up," he suggested.
"And you'd better be getting dressed. We haven't
much time. Boy! We'll need the reserves to get you
out of here!" He simmered with enthusiasm. Maxie
never boiled about anything but his own ailments.
"What a town! What a town! I wouldn't be sur-
prised if we do seven grand tonight!"
"I thought you didn't like this town," Hal teased.
"I don't feel right about it, but business is business
and we're here to make money. I have a feeling we're
headed for trouble, the cross-eyed dame, the fog
and all. Maybe, if you'll just keep your head, we
won't have no trouble. Remember your promise,"
he cautioned as Hal rose from the chair, pulled off
his coat, slung it on the couch and began to undress
as he advanced toward a door. "This my room?"
he asked.
Maxie nodded.
Hal's shirt was already off as he opened the door.
For one unbelieving moment he paused, then re-
coiled as if stung. He blinked twice to be sure that
his eyes had not played him a trick. Mary had been
right, after all. There could be no doubt of it. Mrs.
Llewellyn Paxton, glistening with diamonds, wearing
a smart tailored suit, Paris hat, her mink coat thrown
open, was standing in the middle of his bedroom
floor. And to make matters worse she stood there in


SUDDEN SILENCE 27
his very own pet fleece-lined bedroom slippers. His
eyes held on those slippers a moment as a wave of
anger and resentment flashed over him. Hal hated
people to use his personal things. Boiling mad, his
eyes flashed back to her face.
She gave him a placating smile. "Hello," she
purred, "my feet were simply killing me!" She
pointed down with a vague fluttering gesture before
his wrath exploded.
"Get out of my slippers!" he bellowed. "And get
out of this room!"
Mrs. Paxton reacted to the angry orders immedi-
ately. With a gasp of amazement she leaped clear of
the slippers. They were elevens. She plumped to
the floor. She winced with sudden pain, then turned
on Hal, her anger nearly matching his. "Don't shout
at me, young man!" she cried. "I won't move a step
until you . . ."
"I'm not going to play for your Hands Across the
Sea Benefit! For the hundredth time—No!" he
shouted, thoroughly incensed.
Maxie came bustling to the door. "What's the
matter?" he asked.
"Didn't I tell you to keep that woman away from
me! Get her out of here!" Hal bellowed. "Do
something to earn your money!" He stepped back
into the sitting-room and slammed the door with a


SUDDEN SILENCE 29
"I know," Joe Stevens said with an amused chuckle.
"He'd faint."
Hal paused at the door. "Call the manager and
tell him he's got to get me out of here through some
alley. I'll be ready in ten minutes."
"But dinner!" Maxie protested. "I've ordered it!"
"Cancel the order. We'll eat at the Gardens. You
arrange to get me out of here. I can't stand the sight
of another woman right now!" The bang of his door
gave added emphasis to the statement.
Mrs. Paxton had begun her attentions in New York
when she tried to persuade Hal that he should play
for her Hands Across the Sea Benefit. Hal had re-
fused then but Mrs. Paxton had not believed him.
Her persistency was most annoying. She asked him
again and again until he hated the very sight of her.
The one thing Hal did not know about Mrs. Paxton
was the fact that she had made a bet with some of
her friends that she could get Hal Harrison to play
for her Benefit and she wouldn't have to pay a cent
for his services.
Hal fumed about Mrs. Paxton as he dressed. It
was twenty minutes rather than ten before everything
was arranged for Hal's exit from the hotel. One of
the musicians was to wear Hal's familiar camel-hair
coat. With collar turned up and hat brim pulled
down over his face, the musician was to brave the
crowds in the lobby and on the street. Hal, alone.


go SUDDEN SILENCE
was to go down in the service elevator and out
through the alley to a waiting car.
When Hal and his double were ready, Maxie
peered cautiously into the corridor. The musician
stepped into the hall followed by Maxie and moved
toward the elevators. When the lift door closed be-
hind them Hal flashed down the corridor and popped
into the waiting service elevator. The door closed
promptly. The lift started with a jerk.
Hal gave a low moan when he saw that he was
not alone with the operator. Mrs. Paxton's lovely
daughter had him cornered! She was really a beauti-
ful, glamorous girl but Hal was too provoked to see
or think of anything but the fact that the Paxtons
had outwitted him again.
Joan Paxton folded her arms and regarded him
appraisingly as he tried to ignore her presence. A
soft ermine wrap fell away from her smoothly
rounded shoulders, revealing a slim body in a pale
blue evening gown. A silver-slippered foot took a
step toward Hal.
"Stay away from me!" he cried. Then, "Let me
out of here!" he bellowed at the operator.
A dangerous glint appeared in the girl's eyes as
she seized the lapels of his coat. "Afraid, eh? Well,
you don't get out of here until I say so. We're
riding up and down together, you and I until you
promise to play for Mother's Benefit. Remember,


SUDDEN SILENCE 31
I've followed you and her three thousand miles and
have been forced to look at you and your banjo-eyed
public until I'm sick to death of the sight of both
of you."
He was impressed by her grim determination. He
knew, and knew that she knew, that he could get
out of the lift if he wanted to do so badly enough.
He didn't want to get out for a moment at least.
She had flecked him on the raw with her last remark.
"Banjo-eyed, eh?" he repeated.
"That's what I said. And I've had enough of it.
Now if you'll just give me your . . ."
"I said 'No' in New York. I repeated it in Buffalo,
I shouted it in Chicago. I had you both arrested in
Cleveland, and detained as a public nuisance in Salt
Lake City. Do you know what I'm going to do
here?" he demanded threateningly.
"Say 'Yes,'" she breathed hopefully, ignoring his
serious manner.
"No!" he cried. "Do I have to put it in writing?"
The car reached the basement and started on an-
other upward trip. "You've got to play at Mother's
Benefit!" she repeated desperately. "We can't get
married until after you've played for it."
He stepped back, alarmed. The girl was really
mad. "Married!" he repeated.
The car bumped, stopped and started down. Hal
grabbed the operator by the arm. "If you don't open


32 SUDDEN SILENCE
that door when we reach the bottom, I'll have you
fired. I'll have you boiled in oil, or better yet I'll
take a good sock at you. You don't want to force me
to marry a mad woman, do you?"
Joan glared at him. "You certainly hate yourself,
don't you? Marry you! Why, I wouldn't marry you
if . . ."
"If I were the last man on earth," he finished the
quotation, dimly aware by this time that she was
extraordinarily pretty as she stood facing him, eyes
flashing.
"Well, I wouldn't! I don't like your looks! I
don't like your band and I don't like your public!
And I think your voice is terrible!" she added as an
afterthought.
"I'm sorry," he said, concealing his secret amuse-
ment. "I didn't know you cared."
"The conceit of you!" she stormed. "I don't!"
The car bumped to a stop. The bewildered op-
erator glanced at Joan.
"Let him out!" she ordered.
Hal stepped aside for her to leave the car first.
"Why can't you be reasonable?" she argued. Her
mood changed to a softer note as she explained, "I
didn't mean all the things I said about you. I sup-
pose you're all right in your own way. I'm not after
you, really. I want to get Mother settled. I can't


SUDDEN SILENCE 33
do a thing while she's gallivanting all over the coun-
try."
"But you said those things. You must have
thought them whether you meant them or not. They
can't be taken back. You can't recall the spoken
word."
"Very well, I'm sorry."
"I suppose you're excited and upset about the man
back in New York. What you really want is for me
to help you get married, is that it?" he asked.
"I don't want to get married," she denied.
"But you just said—" He stopped and faced her.
"I said there was a man in New York who wanted
to marry me," she flashed back.
"That's understandable. Why don't you go back
to New York and marry him?" he snapped.
"It's none of your business and you don't need to
throw me a few back-handed compliments. The man
in question happens to be another of Mother's ideas.
She picked him out. As you may have guessed, my
mother is a very determined person once she makes
up her mind."
"I'll say she is," he replied grimly.
Joan giggled. His remark was so heartfelt. "I
know how to handle Mother—and the man," she
added. "She keeps urging, he keeps asking and I
continue to say 'No' to both of them. They wait
hopefully. You see, the reason I want to get this


34 SUDDEN SILENCE
Benefit thing settled is this: I won't be able to travel,
marry someone I love or have a moment's peace
until your corny band has played for the Benefit."
To tell an orchestra leader that his band is corny
is like waving a red flag at a bull. Her remark was
most unfortunate. He had been softening toward
her, feeling a little sorry for her, but his old anger
flared.
"Corny?" he echoed indignantly. "I'll never play
your Benefit. And that's final. You can die an old
maid, for all I care." He jerked at a door which
faced them at the end of the corridor.
"Of all the unreasonable, stubborn . . ." she cried.
He stepped through the door. She tried to follow
him. He shoved her back gently, saying, "This is
the end of the line." He let the door close between
them. He sprinted down the alley.
Joan pounced out of the door and darted after
him. She caught his flying coat-tails as he stepped
on the running-board of the waiting car.
"Not so fast!" she cried.
"Let go of me!" he stormed.
"Do you take me with you or do I scream?" she
challenged.
"Go ahead and scream," he said indifferently.
"You asked for it," she replied. "And wait till
your public hears about you waylaying an innocent
girl in a dark alley!"


SUDDEN SILENCE 35
She took a deep breath. Her chest swelled. Her
mouth opened but the threatened cry died unborn.
Hal suddenly remembered that telegram from his
sponsor, Higgins. His hand went over her mouth
just in time. He pushed her into the car.
She sat back and watched the road as they were
whisked along.
"You understand that I don't intend to have you
tagging along behind me all evening," he said, ex-
asperated by her sullen silence.
"I'm just as determined as my mother. You've
got to give in."
"No!" he shouted and burrowed into the corner
of the seat.
A mile from the Crystal Gardens they were caught
in a traffic jam. For that night, at least, all San
Francisco seemed Hal Harrison conscious. The roads
were blocked with cars. Harried police tried to hold
back the mobs and clear the traffic snarls at inter-
sections.
After one very long wait, Hal leaned out of the
car and called to a policeman. "I'm Hal Harrison.
Can you get me through?"
"Yeah?" the policeman retorted. "Well, personally,
I'm the Sultan of Siam and . . ." He stopped in
mid-speech as he compared Hal's eager face peering
out of the car with the same countenance which
smiled down at him from a nearby poster tacked to


36 SUDDEN SILENCE
a telegraph-pole. He blew his whistle shrilly and
waved down the line of cars.
In a few minutes, with a motorcycle clearing the
way, they crawled toward the Gardens. A brilliantly
illuminated sign ran the full length of the world's
largest dance palace, reading:
FOR TWO NIGHTS ONLY . . . HAL HARRISON IN PERSON!
As the car crept to the entrance of the jammed
parking lot, two policemen boarded it, trying to ward
off the people who ran up to flatten their noses
against the windows. Hal glanced at the girl.
She said, "Beautiful spectacle, isn't it? There's
something about the human nose when flattened
that . . ."
"But have you ever noticed their tonsils," he asked,
"or their adenoids? Much more interesting."
She made no effort to conceal her contempt for his
gaping public.
A long line of eager customers snaked away from
the box-office waiting their turn to buy tickets. It
was a good-natured crowd shoving and jostling as it
strove to hold its place.
"Look at your public," she scoffed as the crowd
surged forward. A woman tripped and fell. She
screamed in terror as it seemed inevitable that she
would be crushed under the advancing feet. Quick
hands yanked her upright.


SUDDEN SILENCE 37
The car crawled to a stop at the roped entrance.
Hal stepped out, followed by Joan. "I'll leave you
here," he said.
Her reply was drowned in shouts of, "There he is!"
There was a great shout, a combination of ohs and
ahs. Hal's face broke into a wide, prop smile. A
schoolgirl ducked under the restraining rope and
ran to his side, breathlessly asking for an autograph.
Hastily he scribbled in her book, then started for
the door. He bowed and smiled and waved his hand
as he advanced toward the entrance.
Joan was at his heels. "That's right," she sneered,
"eat it up!"
He glared at her for a split second, then dashed up
the remaining steps as the rope strained under the
heavy load of pushing, shoving humanity. Joan sped
after him. "Do you play the Benefit?" she demanded.
"I do not!" He turned to the special policeman
guarding the door and said, "There's ten dollars in
it if you'll keep this woman out of my hair. She's
just escaped from her keeper."
"Oh," cried Joan, "I could kill you for that."
Hal glanced at the policeman. "You see? She's
absolutely violent."
The policeman's burly arm caught Joan as she
tried to follow Hal through the door. "Be a good
girl and go home or I'll have to run you in," he
warned.


38 SUDDEN SILENCE
"I won't go home!" she flared.
He took a good look at her ermine wrap and said,
"If I see you and that white overcoat around here
again, I'll lock you up for disturbing the peace. A
nice girl like you ought to be ashamed!"
Joan was defeated for the moment and beat a hasty
retreat. She had a plan but it would have to wait
until her mother arrived.
At the entrance Hal was greeted effusively by Dave
Fields, the husky owner of the dance palace. Fields*
face broke into a broad grin as he pumped Hal's
hand. "Welcome!" he cried, and then, "Have I fixed
things for you?"
Hal looked over the gaily decorated entrance.
"You've spread yourself, Dave. It looks fine. I see
you've even decorated yourself. You shouldn't have
done that." Fields' hand went to his discolored right
eye. "What did you do, run into a door?" Hal teased.
"As a matter of fact, that's exactly what I did do,
only nobody believes me," Fields replied as he fin-
gered the sore spot under his eye.
"They never do," Hal agreed with a laugh.
Inside the hall, Hal was greeted with loud applause.
Debs from Nob Hill were rubbing elbows with the
girls from Woolworth's as Fields led him to the table
which was reserved for him and the other band
leaders of the city whom he had invited to be his
guests. The hall was packed. Waiters wormed their


SUDDEN SILENCE 39
way through the crowded aisles while bus boys rapidly
set up an extra row of tables on the edge of the dance
floor, a thing unheard of at Crystal Gardens.
"Where were you?" Maxie demanded. "I thought
you had been kidnaped."
"Same thing," Hal explained briefly. "Where's my
dinner? I'm hungry."
At a signal from Maxie, waiters began serving a
simple meal. Fields left to superintend activities.
Hal was enjoying his steak when a voice burst upon
his ear. "Now, Mr. Harrison, about my Benefit . . ."
Mrs. Paxton and Joan were standing beside him.
Joan gave him a triumphant smile. With one com-
prehensive glance he knew how she had passed the
policeman at the door. Instead of her ermine wrap,
she wore Mrs. Paxton's mink. She had also twisted
a scarf over her silky hair.
Hal ignored them and said tersely to Maxie, "Call
the cops!"
"If you have me arrested again—" Mrs. Paxton
began.
Maxie looked at her sadly. "Listen, lady. The
jails in this town are terrible. Won't you please
scram? We don't want no trouble, but you're asking
for it. Is it the cops or . . ."
Mrs. Paxton sniffed, beckoned to a waiter and
trailed off.
Hal's table began to fill before he had finished his


4o SUDDEN SILENCE
dinner. Phil Martin, the Crystal Gardens' own
maestro, sauntered up. For a moment the crowd
hushed, waiting, hoping to see a row right then and
there. Hal greeted Phil cordially and invited him to
sit down. With a cocky, self-assured smile, Martin
seated himself in full view of the audience. The
others came quickly after that. Chubby Carlton, Rex
Kingford, Chick Stoner and several lesser luminaries
arrived. There was an air of tense expectancy about
the group as they drank quietly.
Maxie tried his utmost to dispel the weighted at-
mosphere. "Remember your promise," he whispered
to Hal as he passed beside him.
Hal nodded.
Rex Kingford, tall, thin and suave, had had his
eye on Phil Martin's spot at the Gardens for a long
time. Kingford knew he was a better band leader
than Martin, but San Francisco and Dave Fields, the
manager of the Gardens, had failed to recognize the
fact. Kingford made no effort to conceal his interest
in Martin and Hal. Martin, for all his debonair
attitude, was nervous in the presence of the man he
so widely imitated. To cover his feelings, he drank
steadily.
Kingford looked over the hall with an appreciative
eye and asked acidly, "Don't you wish you could pull
"em in like this, Phil?"


SUDDEN SILENCE 41
"You'd be satisfied with my audiences," Martin
retorted.
"Let's keep personalities out of this, Kingford,"
Hal suggested hastily.
"Might as well try to keep bees from honey," the
cherub-faced Chubby Carlton chuckled.
Dave Fields hastened to the table. His face was
beaming. He rubbed his big hands together with
satisfaction as he stood and surveyed the packed
house. "How do you like our place, Hal?" he asked
and then turned to Maxie. "Didn't I tell you we'd
pack them in?"
Dave Fields asked many questions but he never
waited for an answer. His questions were punctu-
ations in a monologue. With his habitual lack of
tact, he threw his next question at Phil Martin.
"When are you going to be as good as Harrison?"
He chuckled as he winked at Maxie. "I hear the
boys are calling you 'The Number Two Company.'"
"When you . . ." Martin started to reply but was
interrupted by a round of clapping from the au-
. dience. The Harmony Men were trooping onto the
bandstand across the hall.
As the applause died down, Hal said to Fields,
"You've certainly got a friendly house here, Dave.
It must be capacity."
Phil Martin looked up from his glass and said


42 SUDDEN SILENCE
sourly, "It is. All my friends are out to get a load
of you imitating me!"
"Cut it out!" Hal warned quietly.
"So you don't like it?" Martin sneered. "The
truth hurts, does it?"
"Wait until you're sober," Hal advised.
"What are you afraid of?" Martin went on. "Was
that statement in the paper just a lot of your usual
hot air?"
"Cut it," Hal warned a second time, his voice edgy.
"Now, now," Maxie stepped into the gap, "remem-
ber where you are."
"I know where I am," Martin retorted. "And
where I ought to be if it wasn't for that double-
crossing. . . ."
"Easy, Phil." Dave Fields' deep voice growled a
warning.
Maxie, sensing what was coming, took an aspirin
and was gulping it down as Martin replied, "He fired
me the minute he began to get the breaks and then
he stole my style of singing. Why, even his band
copies mine!" he cried.
Hal rose to his feet and shook off Maxie's restrain-
ing arm. Several reporters circled the table listening.
"You know why you were fired from my band and
you know why I've never mentioned the reason.
Would you like me to break that silence?"
"Because you double-crossed me with . . ."


SUDDEN SILENCE 43
"Don't say it!" Hal threatened.
"The purity boy doesn't want dirty publicity, does
he?" Martin taunted.
"I gave you a beating when I fired you and if you
say what you were going to say, I'll finish the job I
started then. If you want it, just start something."
Hal's eyes were flashing as he leaned over Martin.
Fields grabbed Hal by the arms. "Forget it! No
fighting here. Do you want to ruin the show?" He
tugged at Hal. "They're waiting for you. You'd
better get going. We do a sustaining broadcast at
eight-thirty."
He led Hal to the floor. Hal's drummer, on the
watch for their entrance, rolled the drums. Dave
advanced to the center of the floor. With hands up-
raised to command silence he shouted, "Ladies and
Gentlemen! I give you the one and only Hal
Harrison 1"
There was a tremendous burst of applause as Hal,
bowing, crossed to the bandstand.
"What an ovation!" Chick Stoner shouted to the
other band leaders at the table.
Phil Martin's darkly handsome face was sulky.
"What's he got that we haven't got?" he asked bit-
terly.
"Nerve and a couple of million dollars!" Chubby
Carlton answered.


44 SUDDEN SILENCE
"Are you going over to take your bow, Phil?" Rex
Kingford asked.
"I suppose I'll have to do it or be called a sore-
head," Martin grumbled. "I've half a mind to tell
that crowd about the dirty . . ."
"You overestimate your mental capacity," Chubby
Carlton taunted good-naturedly. "Why don't you
tell the crowd? You wouldn't want these people to
think you were a sore-head. Just tell them why you
hate* Harrison."
"You mind your own business!" Martin jumped
to his feet snarling.
"Sit down, you fool!" Dave Fields ground into his
ear as he pushed him back into his chair.
Martin grumbled to silence.
Across the hall the Harmony Men were ready.
Hal, adjusting the microphone to his height, glanced
at the control room where the announcer was in-
troducing the program. Hal, while waiting, took his
first comprehensive look at the Crystal Gardens. It
was the largest razzle-dazzle resort he had ever seen,
done in the latest style of modern architecture. The
room was a great oblong. The special features in-
cluded hanging balconies on all four sides with
private de luxe accommodations, a dance floor
equipped with indirect lighting, a receding roof
which lifted gently and slid out of sight, a moving


SUDDEN SILENCE 45
bandstand which rolled silently out onto the light-
studded floor.
There was an expectant hush over the auditorium
as Hal with baton lifted waited the sound engineer's
okay. Suddenly the red bulb beside the microphone
glowed. Hal's baton came down and the Harmony
Men swung into their famous signature.
In a moment the floor was filled with gently sway-
ing couples who seemed to be gliding on an inverted
. sky as they revolved over the light-studded floor. In
two minutes, hundreds of couples were jammed into
a slowly undulating mob at Hal's feet.
During the second number, Joan whirled up in
the arms of an awe-struck youth and planted herself
directly in front of Hal. She kept demanding, "When
are you going to give in?" The young man stared at
her as Hal shook his head grimly and looked off across
the hall.
The crowd would not be satisfied. They demanded
more and more at the end of each number. The
demand for encores grew tiresome. In desperation
Hal called his trio down, the famous Dale Sisters,
headed by Mary. They sang the final chorus.
During the short intermissions between dance num-
bers, the bars were busy. Laughter and excited
chatter rippled through the great building. At
eleven o'clock, when the boys were badly in need of
a rest, Hal announced a special number.


46 SUDDEN SILENCE
"You must keep off the floor," he warned. "This
is a show feature and your own maestro, Phil Martin,
has promised to take a bow and sing a chorus for us."
As Phil Martin stepped to the floor, there was a
good-natured cheer and a spattering of applause.
Phil crossed directly to the stand. Hal stepped to one
side, giving the stage center to Phil. With a nod
from Hal, the music started. The house lights began
to dim until only the exit signs glowed in the dark-
ness. A baby-blue spot centered on the floor, picked
up the members of the chorus, as the girls danced in,
swaying in rhythm to the waltz tune. Then Phil
Martin's voice, sweet and surprisingly clear, added a
final touch to the caressing music. He had never
sung as well.
Hal moved across the platform to the outer edge
to give Phil the complete spot when the lights would
come up. As he neared the edge of the platform he
felt a tug on his trouser leg and Joan's voice de-
manded, "Are you going to say 'Yes'?"
"Quiet!" he whispered.
The next instant Joan had scrambled to the stand
beside him. "Promise," she insisted.
"No!"
"Then I'll make a scene and they'll say you did
it on purpose because Martin was singing so well,"
she threatened.


SUDDEN SILENCE 47
"I don't like men who beat women," Hal growled
in a heavy whisper, "but I'm beginning to understand
why they do it. I'd like to take a sock at you right
now."
Joan giggled. "Why don't you? It would be won-
derful publicity."
"Pipe down, will you?" Hal cautioned as the Dale
Sisters swung into the second chorus, their rich voices
harmonizing with the rippling music. The chorus
went on with their ballet routine. The Dale Sisters
finished and moved away. Phil Martin took the next
chorus alone, his voice rich, caressing and powerful
until it stopped suddenly with a startled, gasping,
throat-closing '' Uggh!'' Coming over the microphone
it sounded like clotted surprise.
Always on the alert for the unexpected in connec-
tion with his orchestra, Hal sprang forward before
the strange gurgle had died away. In the dim blue
light coming from the spots on the floor he could see
Martin's body beginning to sag. With outstretched
arms, Hal caught Martin as he gave a final slump,
swung him around toward his tenor sax, Scat Miller,
and whispered, "Take care of him! I think he
fainted."
Being a showman first, last and always, it was only
a moment later that Hal's voice filled the crowded
room with its haunting quality as he picked up the


48 SUDDEN SILENCE
song that had died on Martin's lips. Women sighed
and snuggled a little closer to their partners. Men
returned the pressure of trembling fingers as Hal's
voice drifted slowly away, lingering in memory only.
With the last bars of the music the chorus vanished
into the darkness. There was tremendous applause.
The lights came on slowly, almost reluctantly, as the
girls pranced back to take their bow to the unending
applause. Hal beckoned to the Dale Sisters, who
took a bow. Then he swung round hoping that
Martin had recovered.
Martin was on Scat Miller's lap, head sagged for-
ward, body careening tipsily. Hal motioned to Scat
to get Martin on his feet. Scat tried. Martin's body
stretched across his lap. Scat moved his hands, gave
a startled cry and jumped from his seat. Martin's
body slid to the floor, falling with a dull, echoing
thud. Hal stepped back quickly, aghast at what he
saw.
Mary Dale had moved down front. She covered
her eyes and screamed. Her voice, amplified by the
microphone, shrilled, echoing and reechoing through
the hall.
The crowd jumped to its feet and surged forward.
Hal leaped into action before panic could spread.
"Get him out!" he cried to two of his men. "The
rest of you play. Now! Swing it out!"


SUDDEN SILENCE 49
As the body was carried behind the stand, only
those people in the vanguard of the onrushing mob
could see the thin knife protruding from Martin's
back.


Ill
Hal kept the band
playing. The floor filled with dancers. Some of
the people who had surged forward toward the stand
after Mary's scream began to mix with the dancers;
the others, eagerly morbid for further details, moved
off after the body, which was being carried into
Fields' luxurious office on the corridor at the rear
of the building near the bandstand.
Fields dashed up, tossing the curious aside as he
crammed his bulk through the door just ahead of
Johnson, who was in charge of the special detail of
police sent out to the Gardens to preserve order.
Maxie rushed in just as the two musicians laid the
body face down on the floor.
"What happened?" Johnson demanded.
"I don't know, but it looks like murder to me,"
one of the musicians replied, pointing at the knife
handle protruding from Martin's back.
"What an escape!" Maxie exclaimed.
"Escape? He's dead, ain't he? What are you
talking about?" Fields demanded.
"I meant Hal," Maxie replied, and took an aspirin.
"That knife was meant for Harrison!"
jo


SUDDEN SILENCE 51
"What's that?" Johnson demanded.
"Don't ask questions! Do something!" Fields
shouted. "Get the murderer! Do you want to ruin
my business?"
"Who did it?" Johnson asked Maxie.
"I dunno nothing about it. Ask Harrison, he was
out there," Maxie replied evasively.
"Go get him!" Johnson ordered.
"No! No!" Fields shouted. "He must keep play-
ing or the crowd will wreck this place!"
Johnson began barking orders to several of his men
who had managed to follow him to the room. "It's
murder!" he cried. "Stop anyone who tries to leave
the hall! Keep the band playing! Get a doctor!
Call Inspector Burke at once!"
The officer who had been instructed to get a doctor
used his head wisely and made his way toward Hal
on the front of the bandstand.
Although Hal had attempted to conceal the mur-
der, there had been some people near the stand who
had actually seen the knife in Martin's back. The
news ran through the building like wildfire, passing
from group to group, from table to table. "Martin's
been murdered! Martin's been murdered!" The
words were passed along until they reached the crowd
on the outside of the building. Several people hur-
ried toward the exits, but were turned back by John-
son's men, who began blocking the doors.


53 SUDDEN SILENCE
As the officer approached Hal he called, "We need
a doctor! See if there is one in the house!"
Hal brought the number to a close and made a
short announcement: "Is there a doctor in the house,
please? If so, go to Fields' office on the side corridor.
The waiters will show you the way. Hurry, please!
Phil Martin has had a sudden heart attack. Will the
balance of you keep dancing or return to your
tables?"
There were some unbelieving jeers from the crowd,
which were lost in the quick rush of the music as
Hal returned to leading the band.
With callous indifference, most of the people con-
tinued to dance. There were, however, many who
followed the policeman back to the area near the
office and pressed against the rope which had been
strung up to keep the crowds back.
The doctor was finishing his examination when
Inspector Burke, gruff and blustery, arrived with as-
sistants and a stenographer to make notes. Burke's
series of questions were as sharp and rapid as the
rattle of a machine-gun. In a few minutes, he had
things moving rapidly.
His questions bore immediate results. He sent
for Kingford, Stoner and Chubby Carlton. He dis-
patched two men to search Martin's apartment, tell-
ing them to hurry back. He refused to permit Maxie
to leave the room. Mary Dale, her face white and


SUDDEN SILENCE 53
strained, came in and sat in a big chair. Scat Miller,
looking a little ill and whiter than ever, stood near
the door. Dave Fields paced up and down in front
of his desk, where Burke's assistant was busy taking
notes. When the band leaders were brought in
Burke snapped, "That's enough for a starter."
"We have three people who tried to get away from
the building. What'll I do with them?" Johnson
asked.
"I'll attend to them later," Burke answered. He
turned to Fields and demanded, "Why was he mur-
dered?"
"How do I know?" Fields answered with one of
his habitual questions.
"You knew him pretty well, didn't you?" Burke
snapped.
"Would I pay him six hundred a week, if I didn't?"
Fields retorted.
"Come on, Fields, don't hedge!" Burke urged.
"Tell me what you know and don't ask questions.
That's my job."
"Do I know any more than the rest?" Fields re-
plied. "Is it right for me to be saying things that
may hurt innocent people?"
"What things? What people?" Burke barked.
"Anything, anybody," Fields grumbled.
"Did Martin have any enemies?"


54 SUDDEN SILENCE
"Don't all band leaders have enemies?" Fields
asked.
Burke tried to be patient. "What sort of enemies?"
he insisted.
"Other band leaders, of course. Aren't they all
jealous of each other?"
"You've got a nerve to say a thing like that,"
Chubby Carlton spoke up indignantly.
"Who are you?" Burke asked.
"Carlton, a band leader."
Burke swung back to Fields. "Come on, be spe-
cific," he ordered.
"It don't seem right, just the same," Fields pro-
tested.
"I'll be the judge of that. What did you mean
when you said he had enemies?"
"Well, Kingford and Martin didn't get along,
doesn't . . .?"
Kingford interrupted to shout, "Is that so? You
were always fighting with him yourself!"
"Oh, you were, were you?" Burke hammered at
Fields.
"Sure, sure," Fields agreed. "That's right.
Doesn't everybody have arguments with musicians?
Ask Maxie here, he knows that." He pointed a
finger at Maxie.
"Keep me out of it!" Maxie cried.
Fields' remark gave Johnson an idea. He stepped


SUDDEN SILENCE 55
forward and whispered something in Burke's ear.
Burke nodded and then went back to questioning
Fields. "What did you argue and quarrel about?"
he demanded.
"Music, numbers, floor show and all that sort of
thing. Aren't all artists temperamental?"
"Was it temperament that gave you that black
eye?" Kingford challenged.
Fields rubbed the discolored eye tenderly with
his finger. The skin had. been broken and was
crusting with blood. He winced as his finger touched
the sore and cried, "Didn't I run into a door?
Doesn't everybody know that?"
"I heard different. You had a row with Martin
and he socked you," Kingford accused.
Fields spread his great hands under Burke's eyes.
"Look! I could break Martin in pieces with my
two hands. Would I let him sock me?"
"Did he try it?" Burke's question startled Fields,
who replied, "It was a door, I tell you."
"Where were you at the time of the murder?"
Burke went on.
"I was on the way to my office when I heard his
voice break right in the middle of the song. I ran
out front to see what had happened."
"Did anyone see you?" Burke asked.
"How do I know? Did I know there had been a
murder? Was I thinking of an alibi? I was worry-


56 SUDDEN SILENCE
ing about my business and the success of my show.
I wanted to know what had happened."
"And you found out?" Burke suggested.
"Not then. Harrison was singing when I got
round to the front. Everything seemed to be all
right until the lights came on and I saw Martin on
that fellow's lap." He pointed toward Scat Miller.
"But you didn't do anything about it, did you?"
Burke insisted.
"No."
"Why not? Didn't you realize that there was some-
thing wrong with Martin?"
"Sure I realized that."
"Then why didn't you take some action?"
"A lot of reasons. Martin had been drinking
heavily. He was sore. He and Harrison had had
a fight."
"What about?"
"Everybody knows there was bad blood between
them."
Maxie jumped to his feet and protested loudly,
"You can't say things like that, Fields!"
"Sit down!" Burke barked at Maxie.
"Fields is right," Johnson offered. "There was
something in the paper about a row between Harri-
son and Martin. Martin was going to sue Harrison
for a million dollars and Harrison threatened him."
"It was newspaper stuff, publicity!" Maxie cried.


SUDDEN SILENCE 57
"Quiet!" Burke growled.
"Shall I put him out?" Johnson asked.
"No. They give themselves away in a crowd like
this," Burke answered. He turned to Fields. "What
do you know about this feud between Martin and
Harrison?"
"He can tell you more about it. He's Harrison's
manager." Fields evaded the question by throwing
it to Maxie.
"Tell me." Burke swung on Maxie.
"Martin has been sore at Harrison ever since he
was fired from the Harmony Men," Maxie replied.
"But what about this suit for a million dollars?"
Burke insisted.
"You see it's like this . . ." Maxie floundered for
words. "Martin was a good band man but he didn't
have the stuff to make a leader. He was never satis-
fied while he was with us and when Harrison caught
him in something shady he fired him."
"What had Martin done?"
"I dunno. Harrison never told me."
"But what has all this to do with the suit for a
million dollars?"
"I'm trying to tell you if you'll let me. Martin
got his own orchestra together and finally located
out here. He's been doing Harrison's stuff and he's
been doing it so long now that he thinks he's the


58 SUDDEN SILENCE
one who originated the idea. He's been claiming
that Harrison copies him and it's just the other way
around. That's what the suit was about, but it was
only a bluff to try and scare Harrison, to keep him
away from San Francisco. That's all."
"Harrison was served with papers tonight. It says
so in the Crescent," Johnson cut in.
"Oh, it does, does it?" Burke said gleefully. "I
guess we're getting hot!"
"But the knife was meant for Harrison!" Maxie
cried. "They killed the wrong man."
"What are you talking about?" Burke demanded.
Maxie told him about the arrival of the telegram
in Portland and the threat which it carried. Since
Burke listened so attentively, Maxie told him about
the slip of paper he found in the car corridor.
"There's someone in the orchestra who is in league
with Martin," he stated. "Harrison isn't afraid of
the suit. He can stand on his own. It won't hurt
him a bit but it would show Martin up for the imi-
tator he really is. What does Harrison care about a
lawsuit of that kind? Why should he kill a man
over a suit he does not fear? On the other hand,
Martin knew he would lose the suit and for that
reason wanted Harrison out of the way. Don't you
see it?" he ended eagerly.
"No, I don't," Burke replied.


SUDDEN SILENCE 59
"Look! It was dark up there on the platform.
The murderer wasn't sure which man was which.
The knife intended for Harrison was plunged into
Martin."
"Umm." Burke considered.
"It could happen that way," Johnson suggested.
"Sure it could," Fields added.
"Have you located the person in the orchestra who
received the message which you think came from
Martin?" Burke asked.
"No, and I've been watching them all carefully
too."
"You say Harrison was up there at the time of the
murder?"
"Yes. He just steps to one side when a guest star
is singing because he has to take over as soon as the
number is finished."
"Who was near Martin and Harrison at the time
of the murder?"
Maxie hesitated to answer that question.
"The musicians," Johnson answered. "The men
in the front row of the band were the nearest. That
fellow was directly behind Martin. He was the one
who was holding Martin's body when the lights came
up." He pointed at Scat Miller.
"Why did you knife him?" Burke demanded of
Miller.


60 SUDDEN SILENCE
Scat, already pale, turned whiter and gulped.
"Come on!" Burke insisted.
"I didn't knife him. Harrison shoved the body
toward me and told me to hold it. He said Martin
had fainted. That's all I know."
"Didn't you try to do anything for Martin?"
"How could I in the dark? I just held him."
"Didn't you know it wasn't a faint? Couldn't you
tell the man was dying?"
"I never saw anyone die. I didn't know. Martin
was so still. I believed Harrison."
"Tried to steer me away from Harrison, did you?"
Burke demanded of Maxie. "Where's this Harri-
son?" he bellowed. i
"He's leading the band," Fields replied.
"Bring him inl" Burke ordered.
"But, Inspector," Fields pleaded, "if the band stops,
this crowd will go wild on our hands. They know
something's wrong. The band must keep playing!"
"Wait a minute!" Burke recalled the policeman
who had opened the door letting in a burst of dance
music. He turned to the others and asked, "Can any
of you lead this band?"
Kingford, Stoner and Carlton jumped to their feet.
"I can," Kingford said eagerly.
"Sure he can," Chubby Carlton said. "He's al-
ways wanted to play here."


SUDDEN SILENCE 61
"Which one are you?" Burke asked Kingford.
"Rex Kingford."
"You're the fellow who didn't get along with Mar-
tin, eh? Where were you when Martin was mur-
dered?"
"I don't know when he was murdered," Kingford
replied, refusing to fall into Burke's trap.
"You heard him gasp, didn't you?"
"Yes."
"Well, where were you at that moment?"
"At the table with these men." He pointed hope-
fully toward the other band leaders.
"That right?" Burke asked.
There was a moment of hesitant silence.
"Was he with you or not?" Burke demanded.
Chick Stoner spoke. "He left the table the first
time Martin sang. He may have come back but I
don't know. You see, Inspector, the room was dark
and I was watching the floor show."
"How about you?" Burke asked Chubby.
Substantially Carlton agreed with Stoner. If King-
ford had a genuine alibi, it was ruined by the dark-
ness of the room.
"You saw me, Dave," Kingford cried desperately.
"I don't remember," Dave Fields answered. "Do
you think I was looking at you with all the things
I had on my mind? I don't remember seeing you


62 SUDDEN SILENCE
since you were at the table fighting with Martin."
That remark was of no help to Kingford.
"What were you fighting about?" Burke asked.
"It wasn't a fight," Kingford denied. "We were
having an argument, that was all."
"They were always at each other's throat," Fields
said maliciously as if he relished the opportunity of
getting back at Kingford for his earlier remarks.
"You had a fight with Martin just before the mur-
der. You left the table soon after he did and you
can't prove an alibi. Where were you?" Burke in-
sisted.
"I told you," Kingford cried. "I was at the table.
They could say so if they wanted to," he accused.
Burke glanced at both Stoner and Carlton.
"I didn't see him," Stoner said.
"Neither did I," Carlton repeated.
"I'll keep you right here under my eye, Kingford.
A man with a possible motive and no alibi is good
material."
Kingford jumped to his feet and accused them all
of trying to frame him. He was crazy, fighting mad.
"Don't get hysterical. Or do you call it tempera-
ment?" Burke sneered. "It won't help you any. Sit
down and be quiet or I'll run you in right now-"
Kingford, his rage spent, sank hopelessly into his
chair.


SUDDEN SILENCE 65
phone. He listened to what Joan was saying, then
sidled up to her and said curtly, "Step aside, sister."
Joan was startled. She looked like a guilty child
caught stealing jam when she realized that Johnson
was an officer. Hal's eyes widened but he went on
with his conducting.
"We want you inside, Harrison," Johnson called
over the sound of the music.
Hal nodded in understanding as Carlton climbed
up.
"Come on," Johnson called.
With a glance at the crowded floor Hal suggested,
"Let's go this way. It's easier." He pointed toward
the side of the stand.
Johnson's arm shot out and clutched at Joan, who
had tried to melt into the crowd. "Not so fast," he
growled; "I want you too."
"Me?" she cried in surprise.
"Yes, you! Get up there!" Without ceremony he
gave Joan a boost which shot her up to the edge of
the stand.
"Can't I be arrested without having you tagging
along?" Hal complained as he caught her hand to
steady her.
The dancers pressed closer to the stand, their eyes
glued on the couple as they were led off by Johnson.
This little scene had not escaped the sharp eye of
Mrs. Paxton, who had been watching them. She


66 SUDDEN SILENCE
left her table and raced down the side aisle, colliding
with a waiter who was carrying a large tray of filled
beer glasses. She gave the startled waiter an accusing
look as his load toppled to the floor and like an aveng-
ing goddess passed on, Joan's ermine wrap billowing
from her shoulders, the spilled beer a foamy wake.
Breathless she reached the roped-off enclosure and
forced her way past a policeman just as the trio
were entering Fields' office. "Wait for me!" she
cried.
"You can't come in here, lady," Johnson denied.
"Then you can't take my daughter in there, either!
Come, Joan!" she gasped, one hand on her heaving
bosom as she fought for breath.
"Please, Mother, go away," Joan begged.
"I'll do nothing of the sort! The very idea! I
never heard of such a thing!" She heaved between
gasps.
"Let her in or lock her up," Hal suggested to
Johnson.
"Who is she?" Johnson asked.
"The girl's mother. Just try to keep her quiet."
"Come in," Johnson said to Mrs. Paxton as he
stepped to one side.
Mrs. Paxton fluttered through the door. At the
sight of the body, which was at that moment being
covered with a sheet preparatory to being carried
away, Mrs. Paxton gave a little shriek, reeled and


SUDDEN SILENCE 67
sank panting on the divan. "Isn't it simply awful?"
she cried to the room at large. "But so . . ."
"Quiet!" Burke barked.
"But it is awful," Mrs. Paxton insisted, "and I
don't care what you say!"
"Who are these women?" Burke snapped. "I sent
you for Harrison, not his harem."
"Don't be ridiculous!" Mrs. Paxton cried. "I'm
Mrs. Llewellyn Paxton and that's my daughter Joan."
"Why did you bring them in?" Burke demanded,
trying to ignore Mrs. Paxton for a moment.
"The girl knows something about the murder,"
Johnson replied.
"She does not!" Mrs. Paxton denied, springing to
her feet. "For if she did she'd have told me. She
tells me everything. A girl should confide in her
mother."
"Sit down!" Burke shouted.
Stoner, Mary and Hal were exchanging amused
glances. Burke caught them at it. "It won't be so
funny if I take you down to the station house," he
growled. As the commotion died down he said,
"Now, Johnson, tell me about the girl."
Johnson had been waiting for his chance to ex-
plain. He said, "As I moved up to the stand this
girl was in front of the mike talking to Harrison.
She didn't see me coming but he did and he scowled
a warning at her."


68 SUDDEN SILENCE
"Ha!" Hal interrupted.
Johnson went on: "You know how a person does
when they want someone else to stop talking. She
didn't catch on, for she paid no attention to him and
she didn't stop. I heard her say, 'I hope they hang
you for this murder!'"
"Why, Joan!" Mrs. Paxton breathed ^n horror.
"You didn't! Not hung! Not before he plays for
the Benefit! How could you say such a thing?"
"I ought to know what she said," Johnson pro-
tested annoyed. "I heard her."
"And I know my daughterl"
"And I know this. One more word out of you
and out you go," Burke stormed at Mrs. Paxton.
"What do you think this is, a pink tea? We're in-
vestigating a murder."
"Yes, I know," Mrs. Paxton agreed. "I'm so
thrilled. Really . . ."
"Quiet," Joan whispered a warning.
Mary Dale reached forward and put a restraining
hand on Mrs. Paxton's arm. Mrs. Paxton nodded
sweetly in understanding.
Hal's eyes were full of slumbering resentment as
he watched mother and daughter. Joan flashed him
a pert smile as she faced Burke waiting for him to
go on.
"What did you mean by your remark?" Burke de-
manded.


SUDDEN SILENCE 69
"Nothing," Joan replied.
"Why did you say it?"
"I don't know. It just popped into my head,"
she replied.
"What made it pop into your head? Why did
you connect Harrison with this murder? You must
have had Some reason."
"I did," Joan replied.
There was an astonished gasp from Hal.
"Just what was your reason?" Burke demanded.
"Well, you see . . ."
"What was it she said to him, Johnson? Repeat it,
please."
"She said, 'I hope they hang you for this.'" John-
son quoted again.
"I thought you said 'this murder' before," Burke
asked quickly.
"That's right," Johnson agreed.
Burke turned to Joan. "I can understand your
saying, 'I hope they hang you,' but what I want to
know is what made you add, 'for this murder'?"
Burke insisted.
"We were quarreling," Joan answered. "I knew
he'd be suspected, I suppose that's why I said it."
"What made you so sure that he'd be suspected?"
"Because of the things which were in the papers
this morning and again tonight. I knew you'd sus-
pect him the moment you remembered those things.


SUDDEN SILENCE 71
ousy," Hal answered evenly. "You don't like a man
who tries to steal your stuff."
"Oh, you don't, don't you?" Burke scoffed.
"No, I don't," Hal replied with decision.
"So you killed him," Burke suggested, "to save
yourself the trouble of a lawsuit!"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Hal cried.
"You can't say things like that to him!" Maxie
burst in protectingly.
"I'll show you what I can do. I'll have him in
jail in a half-hour with a murder charge hung round
his neck for good measure," Burke threatened.
"You can't put me in jail," Hal protested. "You
have no evidence."
"That's what you think," Burke replied with grim
satisfaction. "I have plenty of evidence that will
satisfy any judge." He turned to Scat Miller, who,
still pale and shaken, stood near the door. "Come
here, Miller. Tell me again in front of him exactly
what happened."
Miller repeated the story he had told earlier in
the evening, ending with the words, "Hal said Mar-
tin had fainted."
"Oh, he did, did he?" Burke was gleeful.
"But I thought he had fainted," Hal protested.
"You tried to shift the crime on this man," Burke
charged, pointing his finger at the totally bewildered


72 SUDDEN SILENCE
Scat. "Tell me, Miller, what did you do with the
body?"
"Nothing. I just sat there holding him up. It
was dark. He was heavy and slumpy. I waited for
Hal to finish the number. Martin was limp when
I caught hold of him," Scat said vaguely. "When
the lights came up I tried to shift him. He slid
across my lap. Something dug into my leg. As I
moved my hands, I felt the knife and then something
soft and sticky. . . ." He shuddered. His voice
trailed away. With a sigh he collapsed to the floor.
Hal, realizing what was about to happen, caught
Miller in his arms as he sagged.
"What a case!" Burke complained. "Hysterical
women and fainting men! Take him outside and
revive him," he instructed. As Miller was carried
from the room he returned to hammer at Hal.
"What did you mean by that statement in the paper?"
"Just exactly what it said," Hal replied.
"Martin was trying to keep us away from San
Francisco. Don't you remember, I told you?" Maxie
cut in.
"We think it was Martin," Hal interrupted
quickly.
"Why should Martin want to keep you away from
here?"
"Because he claims he originated my particular
type of singing. He knew if I came here I would


SUDDEN SILENCE "75
invite him to sing a number. It is always done by
a visiting leader, a matter of professional courtesy."
"That's right," Fields agreed
"So what?" Burke asked.
"Martin knew that if we sang on the same pro-
gram, it would prove conclusively that he was the
imitator."
"He served papers on you, didn't he?"
"Yes."
"Then that doesn't look like the action of a man
who was afraid. What proof have you that he didn't
want you to come here?"
"A telegram received in Portland, a threatening
telegram."
"I suppose you destroyed it," Burke sneered.
"No, as a matter of fact, I have it here in my wal-
let." Hal opened his billfold and produced the
telegram, which Burke read and handed back with
a grunt.
"Martin sent it all right," Maxie stated.
"What makes you so sure of it?" Burke asked
promptly.
"No one else had a reason," Hal replied, scowling
at Maxie to keep still in the future.
"So when you met Martin you accused him of
sending it?" Burke suggested.
"No, I didn't mention the telegram or the sum-
mons."


74 SUDDEN SILENCE
"I suppose you met like old friends," Burke
scoffed.
"No, business acquaintances."
"And everything was peaceful and friendly, was
it?"
"No. Not exactly."
"What happened?"
"We had a little argument."
"Why?"
"He accused me of imitating him."
"And that was all?"
"That was all that mattered."
"Did the argument stop there?" Burke insisted.
"No, not right there. It sort of ran along. You
know how arguments go," Hal replied.
"Tell me about it."
"I'd rather not."
Burke swung on Stoner. "You were at the table
with them, weren't you?"
Stoner nodded. Prompted by Burke he gave a de-
tailed account of the argument between Hal and
Martin.
When Stoner finished, Burke turned to Hal. "So
you wanted to beat him up. Threatened him, didn't
you?"
"Yes," Hal admitted frankly. "He accused me of
being a crook."
"But you didn't threaten him because of that.


SUDDEN SILENCE 75
What were you afraid Martin would say there in
front of those people?"
"I'd rather not answer."
"When you had your previous fight with him was
it about the same thing?"
"Yes, but it could have nothing to do with this
case," Hal replied.
"Why did you fight with Martin? I must know."
Hal refused to answer.
"Tell him, Hal," Mary Dale urged.
"Keep out of this," Hal warned her.
Mary jumped to her feet. "He's protecting me,
Inspector. They fought because of me."
There was a general gasp of surprise. Mrs. Paxton
fluttered to an awakened interest as she leaned for-
ward in avid anticipation.
"A woman at the bottom of it. I thought so!"
Burke said with satisfaction. "There's always a
woman!"
"It's not what you think, Inspector." Mary spoke
quickly. "Mr. Harrison has been nothing more than
an employer and a good friend to me. I was in love
with Phil Martin . . ."
"Don't, Mary!" Hal cautioned.
"You married him, didn't you?" Fields asked.
"Yes, secretly," Mary answered.
There was a flutter of surprised amazement at
Mary's reply.


76 SUDDEN SILENCE
"We thought it best to keep the marriage quiet,"
she explained, seeing the shocked amazement in Hal's
eyes.
Mary was excessively nervous. She pulled off her
gloves and rolled them into a tight ball as she talked.
"It was your affair," Hal reassured her.
"Why did you keep it a secret?" Burke demanded.
"We . . ." She hesitated.
"Because you didn't want any trouble with Harri-
son, was that it?" Burke went on.
"No," she replied firmly.
"But Martin was jealous of Harrison's attentions
to you?" Burke jumped at what seemed an obvious
conclusion.
"No. Phil Martin never loved me," she answered
bitterly.
"Have you been in communication with Martin?"
Burke demanded.
"No. He deserted me immediately after he was
discharged from the orchestra."
Burke swung to Hal. "Why did you fire him?"
"It will do no good to bring that up. It has nothing
to do with the case," Hal said quickly.
"Unless you killed him or know who did, you'd
better let me decide on the importance of things,
young fellow," Burke condescended. "Why did you
fire him?"
"He was blackmailing women." It was Mary who


SUDDEN SILENCE 77
made the startling announcement. "That's why he
married me."
"I don't see the point," Burke objected.
"He wanted me to threaten women with divorce
proceedings and collect the hush money for him," she
replied bluntly.
"And you refused to do it?"
"Naturally."
"Why didn't you divorce him?" Burke asked.
Mary, did not answer the question.
"Come, come!" Burke prompted. "You must have
had some reason."
"I—er—" Mary hesitated.
"You'd better make a clean breast of it to save your
own neck," Burke advised.
"Tell him, my dear. The truth's best in the long
run, you knowl" Mrs. Paxton urged, unable to re-
strain her desire to hear more scandal.
"I couldn't get a divorce," Mary stated.
"Why not?"
"Because Phil threatened to bring a countersuit
against me, suing Hal for alienation of affections.
You see, he didn't want to be divorced. He didn't
want to be in a position where he might be forced to
marry some girl. Also his blackmail threats had
more force when his victims knew he had a wife.
When he realized what I intended doing about a
divorce he knew he could stop me by threatening


78 SUDDEN SILENCE
Hal's career. At the same time he protected himself."
"And you preferred being tied to a man who did
not love you than have the career of your . . ."
"Don't say that, Burke!" Hal warned, his fists
doubled ready for action.
"It's bad business threatening an officer in this
State," Burke reminded Hal with a glance at the
doubled fists. He returned to Mary. "If Martin
was so anxious to ruin Harrison, why didn't he go on
with his suit?"
"Because he knew that Hal had damaging evidence
against him which would be sure to come out in a
trial."
"So you gave up your suit?"
"Naturally."
"Doesn't make sense," Burke blurted. "If you had
the goods on Martin you had nothing to fear, did
you?"
"I didn't want the disagreeable facts made public.
It would have reflected on Hal and the whole or-
chestra. It would have given the band a bad name.
It would have affected the prestige of all bands.
It would have ruined my career. I would have had
to leave the band," she replied honestly.
Burke switched to Hal and demanded, "Did you
know about this threatened alienation suit?"
"No. I didn't even know they were married."
"Umm." Burke mused for a moment. "It's a nice


SUDDEN SILENCE 79
case. Are you two lovers?" he asked with the sudden-
ness of lightning.
It was Mary who answered first with an emphatic,
"No."
"Of course, you'd deny it. I expected that. But
what a chance for both of you! You were tied to
Martin but couldn't get a divorce without hurting
Harrison. Harrison was threatened with a million
dollar suit and didn't want that kind of publicity.
That's more motive than most people need to commit
murder."
"So I killed him to get the worst possible kind of
publicity!'' Hal scoffed. '' Ridiculous!''
The policeman on guard at the door interrupted to
tell Burke that the fingerprint man was ready with
his report on the knife.
The man came in with the knife, which he laid on
the desk. "Not a print on it of any kind," he said.
"The murderer must have been wearing gloves."
He waited for Burke to look over the report.
"That's all," Burke said, dropping the paper on
the desk.
"There's a couple of slight scratches that look
new," the man said. "I thought you might like to
know about them."
"What kind of scratches?"
"I don't know. They could have been made by
almost anything."


So SUDDEN SILENCE
"Would a ring do it?"
The man considered a moment. "Yes, a diamond
or a loose setting might scratch through a hole in a
glove."
"Okay," Burke dismissed the man. He turned
back to Mary. "Let me see those gloves of yours
which you rolled into a ball a moment ago."
Mary handed him the gloves. As he opened them
he asked, "Do you turn your rings in toward your
palm when you put your gloves on?"
"You can't get them on decently unless you do,"
she replied.
"Ah! I thought so!" Burke exclaimed with satis-
faction as he inspected the glove for the right hand.
The group leaned forward trying to see what he
had found in the glove to please him so greatly.
"There's a hole in this glove caused by wearing a
ring," he said slowly, pointedly, "and unless I'm
greatly mistaken this is a drop of blood."


V
Burke s statement
caused an excited stir in the room. He was cleverly
weaving a net about the girl from which it would be
exceedingly difficult to extricate herself.
"It's lipstick," she said.
"We'll soon check on that." He tossed the glove
to a policeman and ordered, "Have that stain ex-
amined."
"She didn't kill Martin," Hal defended stoutly.
"She was nowhere near him."
"There are no fingerprints on that knife. But
there are some scratches on the handle. Mary Dale,
you were wearing gloves. You were wearing a ring
on your right hand which you admit you turn toward
your palm. You were down front. You certainly had
motive, and you had the opportunity. I charge you
with the murder of your husband, Phil Martini"
"Wait, Inspector, please!" Joan cried.
"For what?"
"It's about Miss Dale. You ought to know this
fact: The trio, including Mary, sang just before
Martin was killed. When they finished their part
81
f


82 SUDDEN SILENCE
in the program, they retired to the divan at the back
of the platform. Mr. Harrison and I had to step
aside to give them room to pass."
"I suppose you saw them in the dark," he chal-
lenged.
"It wasn't completely dark. It was semi-gloom, a
half-light," she answered.
"Then you couldn't be sure Mary Dale passed you."
"But the three girls passed us and since there were
only three girls on the stage and only three in the
company, Mary had to be one of them. Isn't that
right?" she appealed to Hal.
Before Hal could reply, Burke retorted, "She could
have lagged behind. You wouldn't have known the
difference."
"When you are forced into an abnormal position
to permit someone to pass you, you subconsciously
count the number who are to go by," Hal cut in. "I
know all three girls went past me when their number
ended. Miss Paxton is absolutely right, Inspector.
Mary was nowhere near Martin at the time of his
death."
The force of Hal's argument was augmented by the
return of the policeman who 'had taken the glove.
He handed it back to Burke saying, "Cotter says it
ain't blood."
"Tell him I want to know what made those
scratches on the handle," he ordered to hide his de-


SUDDEN SILENCE 83
flated spirits. He faced Hal. "Which brings us right
back to you."
There was a commotion at the door. A policeman
entered saying he had overheard a conversation which
he thought Burke should know about. He ushered
in a waiter. While all eyes were on the new wit-
ness, Joan thoughtfully studied the faces of Hal and
Mary. Were they lovers? Had she killed her hus-
band? Hal turned and smiled reassuringly at Mary.
His glance was warm and friendly, nothing more, but
Mary's reaction, her slight flush and the tenderness
which filled her eyes convinced Joan that Mary was
in love with Hal.
"What is it, Dugan?" Burke's voice cut across the
room.
"While I was walking around outside, keeping me
eyes and ears open, I heard this fellow talking to a
couple of other waiters. They were talking about
the murder and didn't see me. I heard this man say,
'I tell you I saw the knife in Harrison's hand!'"
There were amazed exclamations all over the room.
Mrs. Paxton gasped in evident relish at this sudden
new turn of events.
"That's absurd!" Hal protested angrily, facing the
waiter.
"I did," the waiter said with sullen insistence.
"What's your name?" Burke asked.
"Pete Schwartz."


84 SUDDEN SILENCE
"Where were you at the time of the murder?"
"I was down near the bandstand. I stopped for a
moment and looked out on the floor. The girls
were dancing and Martin was singing. Just before
he seemed to choke I saw something come between
Harrison and Martin. It gleamed sort of blue-like.
You can't be exactly sure of what you see when the
lights are low."
"Why didn't you come to me with the informa-
tion?" Burke demanded testily.
"I didn't want to get mixed up in it. We were just
wondering who did it when this man overheard us.
I did see the knife," Schwartz insisted.
Burke beamed. "How do you like that?" he asked.
"The man's crazy," Hal cried desperately; "or
lying," he added as an afterthought. "Who told you
to say that?" Hal demanded suddenly.
The man seemed startled by the question, but
Burke took no notice of that fact. Instead he bel-
lowed at Hal, "I'm asking the questionsl"
"Then find out why a man insists that he saw a
thing which never happened," Hal cried.
Joan stepped forward. "Inspector, may I speak?"
"You've had your say," he growled, exasperated.
"Wait, Inspector. You don't want to make a mis-
take, do you?" she asked earnestly.
"I don't make mistakes," Burke stated, then with a
change of mind asked, "What do you want?"


SUDDEN SILENCE 85 .
"To tell you something important. I, too, saw
the knife."
"You what?" Burke gasped.
Mrs. Paxton tried to catch Joan's eye. Her lips
shaped the words, "Remember the Benefit."
"What are you trying to do now," Burke de-
manded, "hang him or save his neck?"
"To clear Mr. Harrison of this false accusation."
"And a moment ago you said you wanted to see
him hang. He's evidently quite a ladies' man," he
sneered.
"You ought to know women well enough to realize
that they often say things .they don't mean."
"If I didn't, I seem to be learning it now!" Burke
replied.
Joan was very calm as she faced the Inspector. Hal
was puzzled by her statement and curious to know
what her next step would be.
"You're just trying to cover up for him now that
you know he's in danger," Burke accused. "I know
women well enough for that."
"Before you jump at conclusions, why not hear
what I have to say?" Joan insisted icily. "Mr. Harri-
son was with me from the moment the lights dimmed
until Mr. Martin gasped. As a matter of fact," her
eyes lowered for a moment shyly and she appeared to
blush, "he had his arms around me. He couldn't
have stabbed Phil Martin in that position, could he?"


SUDDEN SILENCE 87
by a knife that just up and jumped into his back?"
Burke growled in disgust.
"Somebody had to hold it!" Fields cried.
"Of course," Burke agreed. "Where was the knife
when you saw it?" he demanded of Joan.
"Behind Martin, naturally, since it went into his
back."
"How was it held?" he insisted.
"I don't know how it was held or who had it,"
Joan cried irritably. "I'm telling you what I saw
and I know Hal Harrison had nothing to do with it."
Burke stared at Joan resentfully. Her testimony, if
true, had snatched two likely suspects from his grasp.
He admitted the value of what she had just said and
knew how much weight such evidence would have in
court. A jury would believe Joan, and if she were
telling the truth not all the cross-examination in the
world would be able to erase the impression she
would make. On the other hand, she could quite pos-
sibly be mistaken. If she had made a mistake about
the three girls he would have to be able to prove that
before he could arrest Mary Dale. If Harrison had
his arms about Joan at the time of the murder he
couldn't possibly have stabbed Martin, unless she was
mistaken about their distance from the singer. That,
too, was a point he would have to prove.
The group was restless and uneasy. They looked
at each other with quick furtive glances. Mary Dale


88 SUDDEN SILENCE
tried to assume a calm which the nervous fluttering
of her fingers belied. Kingford glowered sourly at
Chick Stoner, who was unconcernedly smoking a
cigarette. Joan continued to watch Burke candidly.
Hal's attention was divided between Joan and Mary.
His glances toward each were highly speculative but
they changed in quality as he shifted from one girl
to the other. Mrs. Paxton studied each of the faces
in the room and seemed to be deciding which one
was the actual criminal. Maxie sauntered toward the
door. Fields paced back and forth, his huge paws
clasped behind his back.
It was Fields who finally broke Burke's thoughtful
silence. "Are you going to keep us here all night
and do nothing?" he demanded.
"The band must have a rest," Hal insisted "They
must be dead! We'll have to run a long intermis-
sion," he said to Fields.
"You can all go back to your tables," Burke said,
"but don't try to leave the building, any of you,
until you get permission from me."
There was a general scramble for the door. "I'll
tell the boys to take a rest," Maxie called.
"Bring the band in here," Burke instructed one of
his men. "While they're resting I'll ask them a few
questions."
"That's no rest," Hal protested.
"It's all they'll get tonight," Burke barked.


SUDDEN SILENCE 89
Hal shrugged, turned and followed the others into
the corridor, where they clustered in a small group.
"What are we going to do now?" Maxie demanded
of Hal.
"Take Stoner and Kingford back to the table and
buy them a couple of stiff drinks. I have a personal
matter to attend to and will see you later," Hal
advised.
"Come along, Joan," Mrs. Paxton called as she
turned away from Mary, to whom she had just said,
"For a moment, I thought he would hang you."
"Just a moment," Hal put a restraining hand on
Joan's arm.
They had to step to one side to let the weary mem-
bers of the band pass into Fields' office. As the door
swung shut, one of the janitors approached Fields
and said, "I can't find the gadget to fix the lights."
"Never mind." Fields tried to brush him aside.
"But you always said . . ." the man protested.
"With a murder on my hands you worry me about
lights!" Fields cried. "Go away."
The man shuffled off mumbling under his breath.
Fields trailed after him.
Hal took Joan by the arm and said gruffly, "I want
to talk to you." He steered her down the corridor.
"Can't you talk to me here?" she asked.
"No," he snapped the answer.
Mrs. Paxton and Mary followed them. Hal paused


go SUDDEN SILENCE
at the door of the musicians' room. He put his arm
about Mary for a moment as he said, "I'm sorry
about all this, Mary. Why didn't you tell me?"
"It would have done no good," she answered
simply.
"But it might have saved you this experience. You
shouldn't have told him all the things you did. It
put you in a dangerous position. Everything will
be all right now; don't worry."
"I won't," she promised.
"And thanks for trying to help me. I appreciate
it."
She smiled up at him. "It was nothing."
"Sez you." He bent forward and kissed her. He
opened the door. "In here, please," he said to Joan.
As Joan stepped forward he said to Mary, "I want to
be alone with Miss Paxton for a few minutes. Will
you see to it that no one disturbs us?"
Mary gave him an understanding look and moved
into a position nearer the door.
"I'm going in," Mrs. Paxton said haughtily as Hal
tried to shut her out. "I don't allow my daughter to
run about unchaperoned."
"Very well, have it your way." Hal stepped aside
for her to enter. He followed her and closed the
door. Joan looked up at him expectantly. "You've
certainly got us into a fine mess!" he accused.
"Mess!" she repeated blankly.


92 SUDDEN SILENCE
little girl talked about! Thank goodness, I know what
to do! Mother will protect you." She scurried to
the door, her hands fluttering. "I'm going right out
there and tell the Inspector."
"Mother!" Joan cried sharply. "Don't you dare!"
"Why, Joan! After all, I'm your mother. I know
what to do."
"You'll do nothing!" Joan cried. "Do you want
me to go to jail for perjury, accessory before and after
the fact, and several other things?"
"They wouldn't dare put you in jail," Mrs. Paxton
replied, but her voice was tinged with doubt.
"Wouldn't they?" Joan scoffed. "Burke would do
anything this minute. He's up a tree right now and
he doesn't know where to turn."
"Something must be done," Mrs. Paxton insisted.
"Let her go! Let her tell Burke," Hal said grimly.
"He's finding it out right now. The boys in the
orchestra know she wasn't on the stand with me.
They'll spill the beans and we'll all be in jail. It's
going to be such a nice party," he snapped at Mrs.
Paxton.
"I never thought of that," Mrs. Paxton cried. "It
will put Joan in such a bad light, won't it? Every-
body will wonder why she lied to save you." She
spoke as if it were all Hal's fault. "The newspapers
will say terrible things. 'Society Girl Lies to Save
Band-playing Lover.' No, they'll probably say,


SUDDEN SILENCE 93
'Debutante Tries to Save the Dream Man.' That's
it," she cried. "I won't have it. That Inspector is an
awful man. He'll brand Joan as a liar!"
"Well, she did lie, didn't she?" Hal demanded.
"And," he added, "no one asked for her help."
"She did it for me, didn't you, darling?" Mrs. Pax-
ton fluttered to Joan's defense. "She knows how much
the Benefit means to me and she didn't want you hung
before you played for my Hands Across . . ."
"I'd rather hang than hear that name again!" Hal
shouted, one degree removed from insanity.
Mrs. Paxton sailed for the door. "Not while Eva
Paxton can help you."
"Where are you going?" Joan demanded.
"I'm going in there and warn the musicians to keep
quiet." She opened the door and closed it after her
with a resounding bang.


VI
The members of the
band were tired and hot after their long session
without an intermission. They resented being hud-
dled into Fields' office and showed it plainly. They
were glum and unresponding to Burke's rapid ques-
tions. Because of their attitude Burke became less
sure of himself and consequently less bulldozing as
he proceeded. While he had no reason to doubt the
veracity of the statements Joan had made, he felt
reasonably certain that she could be wrong. He
was well aware of the fact that eye-witnesses are not
too trustworthy. He had heard too many conflicting
stories given by creditable witnesses as they attempted
to describe the thing they had seen.
Burke's suspicions were still fastened on Mary
Dale and Hal. If he could get at the truth he would
have a conventional murder case. All the elements
were there, love, hate, jealousy, and money. With
Martin out of their way Hal and Mary could marry,
the threatened suit would die a natural death. Burke
knew the murder had been carefully planned. His
long experience had also taught him that nine out
94


96 SUDDEN SILENCE
"How could any of us kill him when we were play-
ing?" Joe Stevens asked.
Burke essayed a smile before he answered. "That's
what I'm trying to find out now. What song were
you playing when it happened?"
"Goodbye forever," Joe Stevens answered. "It's
Harrison's new song. He wrote it himself."
That gave Burke an idea. "Do you have a copy?"
"Sure, a complete score is on the piano," Stevens
replied.
"I want to see it." Burke called one of his men
and told him to bring back a copy of the score.
The men exchanged questioning glances, wonder-
ing what Burke had in mind. Art Mathews, the
guitar player, shifted uneasily in his chair.
"Where were you sitting?" Burke asked Mathews.
"Down front on the side," Mathews replied
promptly.
"Did you see the knife?"
"No."
"Could you see Martin from where you were sit-
ting?"
"Sure. He was right in front of all of us."
"Isn't it strange that you saw nothing?" Burke
asked with quiet insistence.
"Most of the time there's nothing for us to see but
a lot of gaping faces and we get sick of that."
"But you couldn't see the faces during that par-


SUDDEN SILENCE 97
ticular number. I understand the room was in semi-
darkness."
"It was. I probably had my eyes closed," Mathews
replied indifferently.
"Was Harrison on your side of the stage?" Burke .
asked innocently.
"No."
"Where does the trio stand when they sing?"
"In front of the microphone, of course," Mathews
replied.
"And where was Martin while they were singing?"
"He just stepped aside for their number."
"Would there have been any time for any conver-
sation between Martin and the members of the trio?"
"Er . . ." Mathews started to reply. His eyes
flickered as memory tapped him.
"Er-what?" Burke prompted.
"I was gonna say 'No,' but I just remembered there
are a few bars of music between choruses," Mathews
replied.
"And what else did you remember?" Burke urged.
"Nothing."
"Are you quite sure?"
"Well," Mathews hesitated a second, "it was noth-
ing. Martin must have said something to Mary be-
cause I heard her say, 'I told you what I'd do.'"
"Was that all?" Burke had difficulty hiding his
eagerness.


98 SUDDEN SILENCE
"That was all I heard because Martin took up the
song."
"And what happened to the trio?"
"They went off, I guess; they always do,"
"But don't you know?"
"No," Mathews cried irritably. "How should I
know? I wasn't watching them."
"But didn't you see any figures outlined between
you and the light on the floor?"
"I don't remember."
Burke asked each member of the band that same
question and they all refused to make a definite state-
ment. Joe Stevens was the last one and he answered,
"I can't see the front mike very well on account of
the piano lid. I sit pretty far back."
Burke's patience was wearing thin. "You boys
are trying to cover Harrison," he accused, "but it
won't do you any good. I'm going to keep your band
in San Francisco until I get the murderer if it takes
a year, understand?"
The policeman returned with the score of the
song. Burke looked it over quickly, separating the
sheets and examining the individual parts. After his
preliminary inspection he asked Joe Stevens to step
forward. "What does this mean?" he asked, pointing
to one of the sheets.
"These are rest marks," Joe explained.


SUDDEN SILENCE 99
"That means that the man wasn't playing, doesn't
it?" Burke asked.
"That's right."
"What were you doing, Miller, during your rest
period?" Burke demanded.
"Nothing."
"Weren't you interested in what was going on?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I wasn't interested, that's all."
"Didn't you know that Harrison's life had been
threatened?"
"No." His amazement was genuine.
"How long have you been with Harrison's band?"
Burke asked.
"Three years."
"Then you knew Martin?"
"Yes."
"But you didn't like him?"
"Not particularly."
"Why not?"
"No reason."
Burke took a stab in the dark. "You knew about
Martin and Mary Dale, didn't you?"
"Keep her out of this," Miller replied.
"She's in it up to her neck," Burke answered.
"She didn't kill him," Miller insisted.
"Then who did?"


ioo SUDDEN SILENCE
"I don't know."
"You could have killed him," Burke suggested.
"But I didn't. I told you what happened."
"You told me what you wanted me to know. You
had a long pause which came just at the time of the
murder. You could have reached forward and
stabbed him."
"I didn't!" Miller cried.
"Then you know who did. You'll talk better at
the station house," Burke threatened.
"Just a minute!" Thurber, the first violinist, cried.
"Miller couldn't have done it."
"Why not?"
"Because at the very moment Martin choked,
Miller was picking something from the floor. He
was bent over and I was wondering what he was
doing. He was bent sideways facing toward me."
"Thanks, Thurber," Miller said appreciatively.
"I'd forgotten all about that. Things happened so
quickly right after it." He turned back to Burke.
"I dropped the guard which fits over the mouthpiece
and was fumbling for it in the dark."
"It's a good alibi for the moment." Burke turned
his attention to Thurber. "Tell me, when Martin
started to sing, what did Harrison do?"
"He moved away from the microphone. Band
leaders always do that when a guest is singing."


SUDDEN SILENCE 101
"Did you see Harrison move, or do you presume
he did?" Burke insisted.
"I saw him," Thurber answered. "I could see his
body loom up against the blue light."
"Then Harrison was alone on the stand?" Burke
asked eagerly, sure that at last he was getting what
he wanted.
Thurber hesitated.
"Come onl" Burke prompted.
"Well, a girl climbed up on the stand beside him,"
Thurber admitted.
"I know all about her," Burke said, showing his
annoyance.
Thurber sighed with relief. "Then, that's all
right. You see, I didn't want to . . ."
"Nobody wants to give me any information,"
Burke growled.
"Well, a fellow doesn't want to get a girl mixed
up in a case like this, but as long as you know about
her . . ."
"Did you hear them quarreling?" Burke asked.
"No. Their voices were low."
"What were they doing?"
"I don't know; they were standing pretty close to-
gether."
"Did Harrison have his arm about the girl?" Burke
demanded.


102 SUDDEN SILENCE
"Knowing Hal, I'd say it was likely," Thurber
smiled.
"But did you see it?"
"No. The girl was up there with him. She's the
one who has been following him all over the country.
They were pretty close together. You know how it
is," he added with a wise grin.
Mrs. Paxton had forced her way into the room just
in time to hear Thurber's remarks about Joan.
"Don't you dare say anything about my daughter!"
she shrilled.
Burke exploded at the sight of Mrs. Paxton. He
had had all of her he wanted. "I'll take care of your
daughter's reputation."
"Thank you," Mrs. Paxton began to bubble. "I
knew you were . . ."
"Get out!" Burke bellowed. "And stay out or I'll
put you both in jail!"
A policeman took Mrs. Paxton by the arm and
eased her through the door, shutting it behind her.
Burke went on grimly. "I'm not so sure now that
one of you didn't kill Martin. You don't want to
talk so I'll have to dig for facts, and I'll get them.
You are not to leave the building until you get per-
mission from me."
Dave Fields entered in time to hear Burke's last
remark. "Can't they play, Inspector? The crowd's
getting restless. We'll have a riot on our hands if


SUDDEN SILENCE 103
we're not careful. They paid good money to hear
music. It's been a long intermission and they're be-
ginning to complain. They may wreck the place un-
less something is done."
"All right. Go ahead and play," Burke ordered,
"but remember what I told you."
"Where's Harrison?" Fields wailed. "Why isn't he
here? He could handle the crowds."
"I'll take care of the crowds," Burke promised.
"Where's the mike? I want to make an announce-
ment."
As the door swung open, Mrs. Paxton was babbling
at Joan and Hal. Maxie hovered in the background.
"Get ready to play," Fields called to Hal.
"How about the people who tried to make get-
aways?" Johnson asked Burke. "I've got them wait-
ing."
"After my announcement." Burke started across
the floor, the musicians straggling behind him.
When Burke was out of earshot Thurber sidled up
to Hal and asked in a whisper, "What's the dope
about the girl? Burke's suspicious."
Quickly Hal explained Joan's lie. "Tell the boys
to be careful, will you?" Hal asked. "Just spread it
around. He's out to trap us if he can."
"Who did it?" Thurber asked. "The dame?"
"No!"
"Well, it would make it easier for us if she had.


104 SUDDEN SILENCE
Burke says we've gotta stay in San Francisco until he
gets the murderer."
Maxie groaned. "I knew this town was gonna be
bad luck. Didn't I tell you?" he demanded of Hal.
"We may have to do a little detective work our-
selves if we want to open in New York next Tues-
day," Hal suggested.
"You mean if Higgins doesn't cancel the contract!
That's what I'm worried about," Maxie groaned.
From the main floor of the building the calls of
the crowds, their clapping and a measured stamping
of feet vibrated through the building. Fields ran
up, frantic with worry. "Hal, for God's sake, go out
and show yourself, will you? They think you've gone
home, been arrested, or something."
Hal swung toward the stand as Burke's voice
boomed over the noise. "Quiet!" he called.
"Quiet!" The noise continued. A roll of the drum
demanded attention. Comparative silence followed.
"I want you to keep your seats and stay away from
this end of the hall," Burke ordered.
"Why? We want music!" a voice cried. It was
caught up immediately by hundreds of voices calling,
"We want music! We want music!"
"You'll get your music," he promised as Hal took
up his position beside him.
As Burke stepped down from the platform he was
besieged by reporters demanding to know what had


SUDDEN SILENCE 105
happened. He told them about the murder and
promised to have the culprit for them before he left
the dance hall that night.
The reporters scampered for telephones as the
band began to play.
Burke, with Fields, began a tour of the area in
and about the bandstand. When they reached the
back of the stand, Burke asked. "What are the tracks
for?"
"The stand rolls out onto the floor."
Burke grunted. "What's inside it?"
"Martin stores his instruments and stuff in there.
I dunno," Fields answered without interest.
"Who controls the rolling mechanism?" Burke
asked.
"Either the band leader or the sound engineer.
They both have control buttons at convenient spots."
"Was it out or in at the time of the murder?"
"Out."
"Okay, work it for me."
"We can't. The dancers are all bunched before
Harrison at the front of the stand," Fields objected.
"Let 'em get out of the way," Burke replied in-
differently.
Fields led the way to the front of the stand. He
stopped for a moment to tell two policemen to push
the crowd back as the stand was coming out. They
walked over to the microphone stand. Fields pressed


106 SUDDEN SILENCE
the button and the stand began to roll forward like
some giant juggernaut. The crowd gave way before
its relentless slow advance.
"This is as far as it will go," Fields explained when
the stand settled to a stop.
Burke looked about. He glanced up at the bal-
cony. His eyes lit up. The balcony was broken,
allowing a space for the stand when it rolled forward.
On either side of the stand there were two boxes
that were now well behind Hal. Burke stepped back
several feet to gauge the distance better. He bumped
into Hal, who stepped aside and grabbed the micro-
phone to keep it from toppling over. "That's it!
The girl was right, after all! The knife did come
from the balcony! It was thrown! Come on!"
Burke had been so absorbed in his reasoning that
he did not realize that every word he had said had
been amplified and boomed throughout the hall.


VII
While burke'S boom-
ing voice was echoing away, there was a clattering
commotion in the upper corner box. Mrs. John
Carter Dufrane, waiting uneasily for a chance to es-
cape, had been terrified at what she had heard. She
jumped from her chair so quickly that the chair up-
set, toppling over with a crash. Thinking only of
escape she slipped into the corridor at the rear of
the boxes and darted for one of the stairways. Like
a hunted animal, she fled for safety to the crowds on
the floor below. No one had seen her leave the box
or descend the stairs. If she could mingle with the
crowd she knew she'd be safe for a moment. She flew
down the steps, barely touching the treads in her
haste. She must reach the bottom before Burke came
from the bandstand.
As she reached the bottom step, the crowd heaved
back toward her, making it impossible for her to gain
the floor. Burke and Fields were coming round the
end of the bandstand and the crowd was giving way
before them. The crowd moved back another step.
With a sob of despair, Mrs. Dufrane was forced to
107


108 SUDDEN SILENCE
step up one step, where she stood head and shoulders
above the mob at her feet. Burke and Fields were
moving toward her. The crowd began to open up.
Mrs. Dufrane tried to flatten herself against the wall,
hoping to be unnoticed. Then all hope vanished as
she heard a voice calling her by name.
It was Mrs. Paxton calling at the top of her voice,
"Hello! Hello! Mrs. Dufrane!" Mrs. Paxton was
excitedly waving her right hand to attract her at-
tention.
Mrs. Dufrane gave a sickly smile as Mrs. Paxton
started to force her way through the crowd, calling as
she came, using her elbows as weapons. "Imagine
seeing you here! My dear, I meant to telephone you,
but we haven't had a minute. • San Francisco is such
a fascinating place and we just arrived this afternoon.
Isn't it thrilling? Wasn't it just my luck to get here
in time for a murder?" With the final sentence she
reached Mrs. Dufrane's side just as Burke and Fields
reached the stairs.
Mrs. Dufrane's attempt at a smile died as running
feet came down the steps and a hand was placed on
her arm. A voice asked, "Why'd you run away,
lady?"
"I wasn't running away, officer, I . . ." Fear shad-
owed her eyes.
"What's this?" Burke demanded of the officer.
"I saw this woman dart out of a box across the


no SUDDEN SILENCE
"But I was only trying to explain . . ." Mrs. Pax-
ton cried.
"Explain inside." He turned to the officer. "Take
them into the office. I'm going up to have a look
at those boxes." With heavy tread he started up
the stairs as the crowd opened for the officer and the
two women.
Joan tried to struggle through the crowd to her
mother but couldn't make it. She was worried. She
wormed her way along the edge of the throng to the
bandstand and stepped boldly up on the platform.
She moved over to Hal, who scowled at her as she
advanced.
"Turn that thing off," she ordered. "There's
something you must know."
"What now?" he asked, doing as she instructed.
"They're taking Mother back to the office. I think
we'd better be there. You never know what she'll
say or do."
"It runs in the family," he retorted. With a nod
at Joe Stevens to take over, he led Joan across the
stand and up to the office door.
The policeman on guard tried to stop them. Hal
said, "Inspector Burke sent for us." They were per-
mitted to pass inside.
Mrs. Paxton was as frothy as a pan of soapsuds
when she spied them. She called, "Joan, dear, you
remember Mrs. Dufrane." Then she introduced Hal


112 SUDDEN SILENCE
"Just what do you mean by that?" Burke de-
manded. .
"What I said and nothing else. Ask this dame."
He nodded toward Mrs. Dufrane. "She probably
can tell you plenty. So could Dave, if he wanted
to."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Fields
denied quickly.
"Don't stall, Fields," the blonde cut in. "If you
didn't know Martin was bleeding a lot of these soci-
ety dames, then you're a bigger sap than I take you
for."
"What's this?" Burke demanded.
"Aw! Don't be so innocent!" the blonde said
harshly. "If you don't know what goes on in this
dance hall, you're the only one who don't. What
do you suppose this woman is doing here? Look at
her! Does she look like a dance hall type?" She
was merciless as she included Mrs. Dufrane in her
denouncement of the dance hall.
"I come here because I happen to like this type
of music," Mrs. Dufrane said steadily with obvious
control of her nerves.
"Of course, so do I," Mrs. Paxton chimed in.
"Sure," Fields agreed. "A lot of nice ladies do."
He turned to the blonde. "Listen, Charlotte, are you
trying to give my place a bad name?"


SUDDEN SILENCE 113
"Ha!" Charlotte scoffed. "Don't make me laugh.
You know how to spoil a bad egg, don't you?"
"Look, Inspector," the little fat man interrupted.
"Please! I'm a night watchman and I gotta be on
the job. I'll lose my work. See! Here's my card.
Let me go, will you?" As he waited for Burke to
read the card he added quickly, "I tried to get away
because I wouldn't want my missus to know I was
here. I told her I was going to the Lodge."
"Go ahead," Burke said as he returned the card.
"How about us?" Kelton asked.
"What were you doing here, Kelton, since you
don't like music?" Burke asked.
"Charlotte wanted to come."
"Did you know Martin?"
"Sure, I knew him."
"Ever have any business with him?"
"He used to come into my place once in a while
until I told him to stay away."
"Why did you do that?"
"Because I don't like heels, never did."
"Is that why you tried to get out right after the
murder?"
"We didn't like the show. Any crime in that?"
Kelton asked.
"Why don't you do things right?" the blonde
asked Dave.


ii4 SUDDEN SILENCE
"Keep out of this, you two," Burke growled.
"Where were you sitting, Kelton?"
"Down at the back, since we couldn't dance."
"See anything?" Burke demanded.
"Nothing but a bunch of nuts milling around out
on the floor like a lot of sardines."
"How do you happen to know so much about
what goes on in a place like this?"
"It's my business to know things."
"You weren't trying to get a cut on any graft,
were you?" Burke asked.
"Listen, Burke. You ought to know my reputa-
tion well enough to know that I don't mix business
and pleasure. When I take a lady out for an evening,
there's no business done. And what's more, I have
my own way of doing things."
"So I understand. If Martin had a good racket
you'd be interested, wouldn't you?"
"Not in this cheap blackmailing stuff."
"How do you know so much about it?"
"Martin was tight one day and told me."
"Why?"
"How do I know why drunks talk?"
"He didn't happen to owe you money, did he?"
"I don't let people owe me money."
"We've been wanting to get something on you,
Kelton, and this looks like it."
"I was at the table all the time after the first dance.


SUDDEN SILENCE 115
Ask the waiter, he knows. That's if you think I
need an alibi."
"I will. Thanks for the suggestion." He sent a
policeman out with Kelton to check. While they
waited, he said to the blonde, "Tell me how this
blackmail racket works."
"There's no blackmail racket here," Fields burst
in on the conversation. "She's trying to give my
place a bad name."
"It's got it," Charlotte scoffed. "Listen, Burke.
I'll tell you. These fellows get a dame interested
in them. They play around with her nice and
friendly-like for a while. Then the first thing the
woman knows she's invited to his apartment to see
his etchings or something. Sometimes it's supposed
to be a party. Anyhow, while the woman is there
someone comes to the apartment and sees her. The
first thing she knows she gets a telephone call asking
for dough or her husband will be informed of her
affair with Joe Doakes. Isn't that right?" she turned
and asked Mrs. Dufrane.
"I really don't know," Mrs. Dufrane denied.
"That's how it works, nevertheless," Charlotte in-
sisted. "And if there are letters, it makes it all the
harder for the victim."
Kelton and the officer returned. "The alibi is all
right," he reported.
"So do we go?" Kelton demanded.


n6 SUDDEN SILENCE
"Go ahead," Burke dismissed them.
"Thanks for nothin'," Kelton said as he went
through the door, the blonde on his arm.
"What a horrible man!" Mrs. Paxton breathed as
the door closed.
"Now, Mrs. Dufrane." Burke paused for a long
moment. He was worried by her importance in San
Francisco society and the prominence of her hus-
band.
"Yes, Inspector."
"Did you know this Phil Martin?"
"Yes."
"Were you on, let's say, friendly terms with him?"
"I knew him rather well but not intimately," she
answered.
"Did you come here tonight to see him?"
"No. I came to hear Mr. Harrison play."
"Did you see Martin tonight?"
"Yes."
"Did you give him anything?"
"I don't understand."
"Perhaps this will freshen your memory." He
went to the desk and from an envelope drew out a
package of bills. "These were found on Martin."
He put the packet of bills to his nostrils. "They
were probably carried in a woman's handbag as a
faint odor of perfume still lingers on them."


SUDDEN SILENCE 117
"I know nothing about the money," Mrs. Dufrane
insisted.
"Would you mind letting me see your handbag?"
Burke asked.
"Certainly not." She passed the bag forward.
"I want to look inside," he explained as he took
the bag.
"I don't mind."
Burke opened the bag and held it under his nos-
trils. "Smells like the same scent to me," he said
with a smile.
"It's very popular," she said.
Burke rummaged in the small bag. He turned
up the usual compact, lipstick, change purse, mirror,
etc. He seemed to be seeking something very defi-
nite because he made a careful search. He produced
a small flat folded checkbook, in a leather folder.
He flipped it open and studied the stub. "Would
you say it was a coincidence if I told you that the
check you drew to cash this afternoon was for the
exact amount of money that we found on Martin's
body?"
Mrs. Paxton gasped.
"I certainly would," Mrs. Dufrane replied.
"Why don't you tell the truth?" Burke demanded.
"You came here tonight to see Martin. You gave
him this money. What did you expect him to give
you in return?"


n8 SUDDEN SILENCE
"I did none of those things."
"Then where is the money you drew from the
bank?"
"Home in the safe, of course."
The two men who had been sent to search Mar-
tin's apartment returned, halting the investigation.
"What did you find?" Burke asked eagerly.
Joan thought she noticed a sudden tenseness as
Mrs. Dufrane watched the two men, who placed a
small bag on the desk.
"Nothing much!" one man answered.
Burke sorted the things quickly. "Didn't you
find any papers, notebooks, diaries, or memoranda?"
he asked with evident disappointment.
"That's all there was!"
"He must have kept records somewhere," Burke
mused.
"If he did, they're not in his apartment," the man
insisted.
That halted Burke, but only for a moment. He
turned to Mrs. Dufrane. "Why did you try to run
away if you had nothing to hide?"
"She didn't run away," Mrs. Paxton cut in. "I
told you she came down to see me."
"And I told you to keep out of my sight! Get
out!" Burke shouted.
Mrs. Paxton hesitated a moment.


SUDDEN SILENCE 119
"Get out!" Burke repeated. With a flurry Mrs.
Paxton made a scampering exit.
"And now, Mrs. Dufrane, will you answer my
question?" Burke's voice was lowered once more.
"I didn't run away, Inspector. Had I been trying
to escape, I could have vanished into the crowd.
Your man told you that he had a long way to go to
follow me. I did want to see Mrs. Paxton and I
wanted to avoid the very thing that is happening
now."
"What?" he asked uncertain of her meaning.
"I can't afford to have any publicity, Inspector.
My husband, he'd . . ."
"Don't worry, Mrs. Dufrane," Fields broke in.
"He won't let any of this get into the papers, will
you, Inspector?"
"Not if I'm satisfied she had nothing to do with
the killing," he replied. He turned back to Mrs.
Dufrane. "Martin was killed rather curiously,
Mrs. Dufrane. Two witnesses have testified to see-
ing the knife which they claim was suspended in
mid-air. There were no fingerprints on the knife.
You could have thrown it from your box. I see
you're wearing gloves."
Mrs. Dufrane looked at her hands helplessly for
a moment before she said, "But I didn't throw it,
Inspector. I couldn't throw anything and hit a
mark—honestly!"


120 SUDDEN SILENCE
"Excuse me, Inspector," Hal said; "if both the
waiter and Miss Paxton are right, the knife wasn't
thrown. They said it floated in the air; they both
saw the blue-light gleam on it. The waiter said he
saw it in my hand. He said it passed from my body
to Martin's."
"Well, what are you driving at?" Burke asked
sourly.
"If the knife had been thrown it would have
flashed, not floated," Hal replied. "Also, it would
have been on an angle on its way down. What does
the medical examiner's report say about the direc-
tion of the wound?"
"That's a point," Burke admitted grudgingly.
His assistant handed him a paper from the desk.
Burke read:
"The knife entered the lower chest cavity under
a rib and penetrated the heart. The wound indi-
cates a slight upward thrust."
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Dufrane," Burke admitted.
"Thanks to the medical examiner's report—which I
haven't had time to read—I've been saved from mak-
ing a grave mistake."
"May I go now?" Mrs. Dufrane asked, relieved.
"Just a moment, Mrs. Dufrane," Hal interrupted.
"I'll take you out."
"What did you want in here anyhow?" Burke
demanded.


SUDDEN SILENCE 121
"I knew you were interested in the balcony as a
starting-place for the knife and I wanted to remind
you of the facts I just told you. I knew if the waiter
and Miss Paxton were telling the truth that, well,"
he shrugged, "you discovered the same fact yourself.
I was anxious to know the angle from which the
knife entered the body."
"You didn't give me credit for any sense, eh?"
Burke asked testily.
"Certainly. I was overanxious to help, that was
all. Forgive my zealousness, Inspector. I want you
to solve this case. I'm leaving San Francisco to-
morrow night."
"That's what you think," Burke growled.
Hal took Mrs. Dufrane's arm. Joan followed. As
they reached the door, Fields stepped up. "I'm
sorry this happened, Mrs. Dufrane. I hope you
won't let it make any difference,"
"It's one of those things," she replied.
As the door closed behind them, Joan whispered
in Hal's ear, "Who's telling lies now, little George
Washington?"


VIII
AS HAL AND MRS. DU-
frane, followed by Joan, stepped into the corridor
they were besieged by clamoring reporters and pho-
tographers. Mrs. Paxton, who had been hovering
outside, darted forward. The startling, noiseless
flares of photographers' bulbs flashed in front of
them, blinding them for the moment. Mrs. Du-
frane made a belated effort to conceal her face.
"What's the story, Harrison? Who did it? Was
there a woman mixed up in it?" Jimmie Farr asked
with the easy familiarity of a crack reporter.
"Sorry, I don't know a thing," Hal answered.
He took Mrs. Dufrane by the arm and stepped for-
ward.
"Hold it a minute, please," a voice called.
They hesitated for one second. Mrs. Paxton's eyes
glistened as she smiled expansively. Mrs. Dufrane
took an impulsive step backward, but Mrs. Paxton
clutched her arm, holding her directly before the
camera as the flash popped.
"No more, now, please," Hal begged. "I've got
to get back on the stand."
132


SUDDEN SILENCE 123
Jimmie Fair tugged at Hal's arm. "What's the
dame's name?"
Mrs. Paxton overheard the stage whisper. She
drew herself up haughtily and said, "Dame! Young
man, I'll have you know I'm Mrs. Llewellyn Paxton.
P-A-X-T-O-N."
"Thanks," Jimmie said and ignored any further
information that might come from her. Hal and
Mrs. Dufrane passed under one of the ceiling lights.
"Oh, good-evening, Mrs. Dufrane. I didn't recog-
nize you for a moment. Friend of Mr. Harrison's?"
"Certainly not!" Mrs. Paxton cut in. "She's with
me."
"And who are you?" Jimmie asked with an ap-
preciative glance at Joan.
"I'm Joan Paxton."
"And why were you being questioned?" Jimmie
asked glibly.
"I have nothing to say at this time." Joan turned
away.
Hal reached over, jerked her arm and led the
women toward one of the balcony stairs.
"What do you mean 'at this time'?" Hal demanded
angrily the moment they were away from the keen
ear of Farr and the other reporters. "You're going
to say nothing more. You've said too much already.
You're going up to Mrs. Dufrane's box and you're
going to stay there!"


124 SUDDEN SILENCE
"I'll say what I please and I'll go where I please,"
Joan flashed.
Hal played a trump card then. He turned to
Mrs. Paxton and gave her one hundred percent of
the Harrison charm as he begged, "Mrs. Paxton, I
appeal to you. We have so much at stake, you and
I. I must leave San Francisco tomorrow night.
We're in a precarious position, all of us, and the
less said . . ."
"The soonest mended," she finished brightly.
"You're quite right. Come, Joan! We must do as
Mr. Harrison says."
Joan's glance accused Hal of playing an under-
hand game. She would have told him so but was
interrupted by the excited arrival of Maxie.
"Hurry up! They're calling for you out there.
You've been away from the stand too much. You've
gotta play!"
Hal excused himself and turned away.
As the three women mounted the stairs, Mrs.
Paxton looked down at Hal as he hurried to the
bandstand. "Isn't he the dear boy? He's going to
play for my Benefit, you know."
When they reached Mrs. Dufrane's table the band
was in full swing. "I do hope they move the thing-
um-a-bob out again," Mrs. Paxton babbled; "I simply
love to watch him conduct. He has such verve,
don't you think?"


SUDDEN SILENCE 125
Mrs. Dufrane made no answer; she was occupied
with her own thoughts. Joan watched the woman
intently. Mrs. Dufrane looked up suddenly, catch-
ing the girl's speculative stare. Joan smiled under-
standingly. "Anything we can do?" she asked
quietly.
"You seem worried," Joan went on. "I just
thought . . ."
"You're kind, my dear. I . . ." Mrs. Dufrane
hesitated, seemed to have arrived at some decision.
"I am worried. This place, those pictures. They'll
be a little difficult for me to explain to my hus-
band."
"Jealous?" Joan asked.
"Very."
"Deliver me from a jealous man!" Mrs. Paxton
launched into one of her long tirades.
Joan's clipped command, "Mother!" cut her short
in mid-air. Mrs. Paxton, affronted, gasped but the
steady glint in Joan's eyes kept her quiet.
"He doesn't know you come here? Is that it?"
Joan asked.
Mrs. Dufrane nodded.
"We'll help you," Joan offered. "You came with
us because we're trying to get Mr. Harrison to play
for Mother's Benefit. That will explain the pic-
tures."


126 SUDDEN SILENCE
"Thank you, my dear. You're very kind. That's
a load off my mind."
"Forget it," Joan answered. "Remember our
story, Mother, and don't make any mistakes."
"As if I would!" Mrs. Paxton exclaimed. "I know
just how you feel, my dear. I was involved
once . . ."
"Now, Mother! We don't want to hear that story."
"But it was a murder, too," Mrs. Paxton insisted.
"Not as odd as this one though." Her eyebrows
arched suddenly. "How do you suppose this Martin
person was killed?"
"Didn't the Inspector say something about a
knife?" Mrs. Dufrane asked.
Mrs. Paxton leaned forward, eager to tell all she
knew. "It was a knife! Sticking right out of his
back! My dear, I was right there all the time. It
was a horrible sight. Of course I know that dear
boy had nothing to do with it although . . ."
"Mother," Joan warned.
"What were you saying?" Mrs. Dufrane asked po-
litely without interest.
Joan shook her head at Mrs. Paxton, who caught
the cue to say nothing about Joan's fabricated story.
She babbled on. "What I was going to say—be-
fore I stopped to think—it's so curious. No one
seems to have touched the knife . . . but of course
they could have been wearing gloves. . . . That's


SUDDEN SILENCE 127
why the Inspector suspected you for a moment,
wasn't it? Imagine your doing a thing like that!
Ridiculous, isn't it . . . but then I always say people
never see the things that are right under their
noses. . . . Knives don't stab by themselves, do
they? Someone had to use the knife. . . . Now who
could it have been? I'd like to solve this crime just
to show that bellowing baboon of an Inspector . . ."
Her voice trailed away.
"It seems such a peculiar murder," Mrs. Dufrane
mused. "It's so spectacular. Had I wanted to kill
Phil . . ." The moment she mentioned Phil Martin
by his first name she realized she had made a mis-
take. She tried to cover her slight thoughtful pause
by racing on, "—Martin, I wouldn't have picked a
place like this, would you?"
"Then you did know him?" Mrs. Paxton asked.
Without waiting for a reply she babbled on, "Tell
us about him. Perhaps we can find a motive."
"I know nothing about him," Mrs. Dufrane denied.
"Mr. Fields introduced me to him one evening when
I requested a special number."
"Then we'll have to find some other source of
information. I'll ask Mr. Harrison all about him
when we arrange the details for the Benefit."
Joan, who had been listening with one ear to the
conversation, interrupted, "Don't be too sure of that,
Mother."


188 SUDDEN SILENCE
"I'll make him play. I have him in a spot. He
can't refuse me now. You know, Joan, about
the . . ." Joan's black scowl was a danger signal
which she observed. "Well, anyhow, I know some-
thing about Harrison and he wouldn't want me to
tell the police. I'll force him to play for that Bene-
fit or else . . ."
"If I were you I'd have nothing to do with it,"
Mrs. Dufrane advised.
"But I've always wanted to solve a murder. You
know they never do it properly even in books. They
make you read three hundred pages just to discover a
fact you knew at the very beginning."
"What do you know now?" Joan demanded.
"I know the man was killed with a knife," Mrs.
Paxton retorted positively.
"But you don't know how it was done and you
don't know why it was done here tonight in front
of so many people."
"Oh, Joan," Mrs. Paxton sighed, "you know very
well that the hardest thing in the world to do is to
find a needle in a haystack."
"You've got something there," Joan agreed.
"Of course I have, but sometimes the way you
act you'd give people the impression that I was an
utter fool."
Joan made no reply to that unanswerable state-
ment.


SUDDEN SILENCE 129
"Now I'll go a step further," Mrs. Paxton contin-
ued, a little intoxicated by her own seeming bril-
liance. "The murderer is a smart man. I say man,
although a woman could have done it—two women
who were questioned were wearing gloves. You and
Mary Dale, that singing person," she said with em-
phasis.
"Mary Dale is an artist," Joan stated emphatically,
"not a person."
"You're too democratic, Joan. Don't keep inter-
rupting my trend of thought. Now, where was I?
Oh, yes! This crime was planned carefully. Do
you know why?" she asked brightly and paused as
if she were playing a game. "Give up?" she asked.
"Tell us," Joan suggested.
"The murderer wanted someone else to be sus-
pected!" She sat back expecting them to be im-
pressed with her keenness.
"Unless I've been grossly misled, that fact is true
of all planned murders," Joan stated flatly.
"Then you admit I'm right?" Mrs. Paxton beamed.
"You have reached an obvious conclusion, yes, one
that all thinking people would know."
"You won't give me credit for a thing!" Mrs.
Paxton complained. "If you're so smart, why don't
you tell us how this Martin person was killed."
"I wish I knew," Joan replied thoughtfully. All
through her mother's gushing talk she had been


130 SUDDEN SILENCE
thinking about the knife. She felt certain that who-
ever had killed Martin had planned the crime so
that Hal Harrison would be suspected. The mur-
derer had had twenty-four hours to perfect the plan.
It was a person familiar with the Crystal Gardens,
but that fact led her nowhere. A thousand people
could be familiar with the Gardens. What puzzled
her was the fact that she knew she had seen the knife
before it entered Martin's body. Where did it come
from and how did it get there? She looked up at
the ceiling. There was no way for it to have been
used from above. Then she remembered the exam-
iner's statement. The knife had entered the body
with a slight upward thrust. The knife came from
below. One of the musicians could have done it or
there was some way for a person who knew the build-
ing to get near enough to do it. She stood up and
looked out over the floor. She tapped her foot to
the tantalizing rhythm of the music.
"It's great music," she said, "I feel like dancing.
Will you excuse me? I'm going down and find my-
self a gigolo."
"Don't, child," Mrs. Dufrane advised. "This place
is . . ." Her explanation was cut short by the ap-
pearance of Dave Fields, who looked into the box
and asked pleasantly, "Everything all right?"
"See you later," Joan promised Mrs. Dufrane as
she slipped from the box.


SUDDEN SILENCE 131
Joan had some ideas about the knife. She wanted
to test them alone and unobserved if possible. She
felt positive that it had floated in the air a moment
before Martin had gasped his last breath. She
wanted to prove something for her own satisfaction.
Then, too, she knew that she must be prepared to
defend herself if Burke discovered her lie. If Hal
had any place in her thoughts, except resentment,
she didn't admit it.
When she reached the main floor, instead of the
crowd she expected, she found the place deserted
except for the occasional passing of a waiter or bus
boy. The morbidly curious had succumbed to the
lure of the music and were back on the dance floor .
watching Hal. She passed Fields' office, where a
policeman still stood guard, and, turning the end of
the corridor, inspected the bandstand and the flat
steel track upon which it rolled when it slid for-
ward. The stand rolled back to its normal position
as she approached. She decided to do some imme-
diate investigating. She tapped the sides. They
gave off a hollow sound as she rapped with her
knuckles. Unconsciously she found herself keeping
time with the beat of the drum. She stopped, fear-
ful lest she be heard. At the back of the stand she
found the door which she felt must be there. She
looked warily in both directions to be sure that she
would be unobserved before she tried the door ten-


132 SUDDEN SILENCE
tatively and, with a final, cautious glance, stepped
up and into the hollow space under the band.
She pulled the door shut and paused for a mo-
ment in the Stygian blackness. The tapping of
the musicians' feet was deafening in her ears. She
groped and stumbled forward. She bumped her head
on a beam which jutted out from the right side and
cried, "Ouch!" For a moment she was stunned as
sharp, excruciating pain shot through her head. Her
eyes watered as she bit her lips and patted the bruised
spot tenderly. In a few seconds she became accus-
tomed to the semi-gloom. She began to see things
quite clearly in the light which came through cable
holes and the cloth-covered grills. She paused, chilled
by what she saw. For a moment she was terrified
and stepped backward, then she laughed nervously
at her sudden fright. A bass viol case loomed up in
front of her and she thought it was a man.
Reassured that she was alone in the black pit,
she stepped forward. Her gown became entangled
in an old music stand, which clattered to the floor
with an ear-splitting crash. She held her breath for a
moment, afraid the din had given her away, but the
music and the feet pounded on overhead. She found
it necessary to bend forward as she neared the front
of the stand. At the very last tier of them all she
had to get down on her hands and knees. She crawled
to a cable hole and peered out onto the dance floor.


SUDDEN SILENCE 133
Just a few feet away from her Hal's swaying legs
blocked her vision of the floor and the closely packed
couples clustered in front of him. She wondered idly
why all band leaders had to wiggle and sway their legs
so much as they conducted.
As she looked through that hole she did some rapid
calculating.
She was satisfied that her guess had been a good
one. She felt confident that she now had an answer
to the manner in which the crime had been com-
mitted. She didn't want to stop there, however, until
she proved her point to her own satisfaction. If she
could find something to thrust through that hole,
something long enough to reach Hal and give him a
poke she would know that she was on the right track.
She looked about hopefully. If she could just find a
long stick! She'd have given a hundred dollars for a
thin fishing-rod at that moment.
She slid back and opened a violin case and con-
sidered the bow. No. It was not nearly long enough.
She was determined not to be beaten. She worked
her way back, searching as she went. It was not until
she was back in the high wide part near the door
that her search was rewarded. A long thin piece of
molding, forgotten by some carpenter, lay near the
door.
Satisfied with her find, Joan crawled back to the
opening, taking extra precautions to move slowly,


i34 SUDDEN SILENCE
for at that moment the music stopped. From outside
the applause was deafening. With her eye glued to
the little hole, she saw Hal turn and heard him say
to his band, "All right, boys. Make this one a sweet-
heart number."
She knew what that would mean. They would
play some popular waltz tune. The lights would be
dimmed again. The baby-blue spots would be used.
The stand would probably be rolled out onto the
floor so that King Hal would be able to give the
audience full benefit of his melodious dreamy voice.
"He's awfully sure of himself," she thought.
"Smug, that's what I'd call him. He turns his smile
and his charm on and off like water from a tap. But
it is a nice smile. It would be," she corrected her-
self, "if he wasn't so darned cocky. I'd like to take
that cockiness away from him just once. Why not?
I'd like to see him squirm."
With her mind made up, she worked hurriedly.
She took a small diamond barvpin which she wore
at her throat and pushed the point through the end
of the molding. She tested it against her fingers to
see if it would work. It did. She poised the long
stick at the entrance of the hole and looked out. She
cried out in exasperation. Hal had moved away from
the microphone. With him gone from the spot, how
would she be able to prove the manner in which the
murder had been committed?


SUDDEN SILENCE 135
She was startled by a sudden whirring sound, but
the next instant she realized that it was the motor
moving the stand out onto the floor. She peeked
through the hole intently as the lights began to dim.
She sighed with relief as she saw Hal's legs come
into view. He was clearly outlined against the blue
spot on the floor. Quickly she pushed her rod
through the hole. The weight of the pin made the
thin molding sag more than she had planned. She
needed extra support for the stick. She reached for
the violin case she had inspected earlier, took the bow
and when the stick and pin had gone about two feet
through the hole she rested the stick on the bow,
which gave the pin the angle she had wanted. Care-
fully she pushed the long rod forward.
Hal was giving "Good-night, sweetheart," all he
had. No popular singer's voice had ever had the
same sweet, suggestively caressing quality. Joan
smiled as the rod went forward. She poked it for-
ward. Nothing happened. Annoyed, she gave the
stick a violent upward jerk.
Hal was singing down into the microphone, his
eyes smiling at the adoring girls packed before him.
His head jerked up suddenly, his voice broke, then
he cried, "Ouchl" in startled alarm. His hand went
behind him. The force of his jerking arm moving
backward so quickly threw him off balance. He
tripped backward swinging his arms violently to keep


136 SUDDEN SILENCE
from falling. Some of the women directly in front
of the microphone screamed; one of them, made of
coarser grain, yelled, "My God! They've got him
too!"
Her throaty voice resounded through the hall am-
plified by the mike.
Hal continued to reel backward. He tripped over
a cable and, in a last valiant effort to regain his
balance, went down, landing on Scat Miller's lap.
Scat's saxophone clattered to the floor with a bang
as with a long-suffering groan Scat collapsed for the
second time that night. As Scat's body sagged, Hal
was thrown to the floor.
During his backward gyrations, Hal's hand had
clutched at the still painful spot. As he picked him-
self up from the floor he held Joan's pin in the palm
of his hand. A sudden flood of memory identified
it. He slipped it into his pocket, the light of revenge
glowing in his eyes.
It had all happened very quickly. Hal's sudden
cry of surprised pain, the screams and the one
woman's exclamation. Even in the darkness, Joan
heard all those things over the beat of the music.
Then came the solid thud of a falling body.
Frightened at what she might have done, or caused,
she hurried for the door behind her. She peered
cautiously out and stepped to the floor, pausing for
a moment to adjust her clothes. Something bumped


SUDDEN SILENCE 137
her in the back. She gave a terrified squeal of fright.
It was the stand rolling back to its normal position.
She ran ahead of it and dashed across the corridor,
headed for the stairs. A policeman saw her run and
took up pursuit.
His composure regained, Hal kept the band play-
ing. When the lights went on he was down in front
carrying on as usual. Burke, Fields and the excited
dancers followed the retreating stand until it settled
to rest.
"What happened?" Burke demanded.
"Something stung me," Hal said sheepishly. "For
a moment I thought I had been stabbed. Everything's
all right now." He said nothing about.the pin in his
pocket. He would take care of that business himself.
"Better explain to the crowd," Fields advised.
"They're pretty edgy."
Hal explained the circumstances to the crowd.
There was some good-natured laughter. Grinning,
Hal promised them one last number.
On her upward flight, Joan passed Mrs. Dufrane
on the steps as she hurried to the box. Without
pausing she called, "We'll see you tomorrow." A
moment later the pursuing policeman caught up with
her and clapped his hand on her shoulder.
"What'ya running for?" he demanded.
"Can't a girl have any privacy?" Joan demanded.
"None of that. The Inspector will want to see


138 SUDDEN SILENCE
you." He wheeled her on the steps and led her
downward.
Mrs. Dufrane was waiting. "What happened,
dear?"
"Nothing," Joan shrugged. "I guess the police
are nervous tonight."
Burke and Fields crossed the corridor. The police-
man called to Burke, who came forward and received
the explanation of Joan's quick movements right after
the excitement on the floor.
Burke looked at her quizzically for a moment and
asked, "You wouldn't be knowing what stung him,
would you?"
"Stung whom?" Joan asked.
"Well, never mind," Burke said. "Let her go,
Steve."
After a second good-night to Mrs. Dufrane, Joan
joined her mother in the Dufrane box.
"What's the matter with your hair?" Mrs. Paxton
asked as Joan fingered the tender spot on the top of
her head.
"Nothing."
"What happened down there? For a moment I
thought it was another murder," Mrs. Paxton re-
marked with obvious disappointment.
Joan did not reply. She leaned over the corner
of the box and watched Hal. A smile played over
her mouth as she thought of his discomfiture. As the


SUDDEN SILENCE 139
band swung into the famous Harrison signature song,
Hal left the stand and the applause behind him and
raced for the stairs and Mrs. Dufrane's box.
Hal burst into the box. During the quick run up
the stairs he had had plenty of time to become angry
all over again. He stopped at the table, his face red,
his eyes blazing and started explosively, "You meddle-
some little . . ."
Mrs. Paxton jumped to her feet. "How dare you?
Benefit or no Benefit, I won't allow you to talk to my
daughter like that!"
The mention of the Benefit added fuel to Hal's
rage and for a moment diverted his attention from
Joan. He glared at Mrs. Paxton and spent some of
his rage on her. "I'm not going to play for your
Benefit and I'm sorry I ever saw either you or your
nit-wit daughter!" He drew the pin from his pocket
and handed it to Joan.
"Here's your pin," he growled.
"Did he steal it, Joan?" Mrs. Paxton asked quickly.
"I've always heard . . ."
"No, no," Joan cut in quickly. She giggled up
into Hal's irate face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to
hurt you. I was just testing a theory."
"Theory be damned! You purposely made me
make a fool of myself," he accused.
"That wasn't hard to do, was it?" she asked icily.
"Look here! If you . . ."


140 SUDDEN SILENCE
Mrs. Paxton made a regal advance. "Young man,"
she began, "stop it. I've had all the nonsense from
you I'll stand. You are going to play for my Benefit,
so make up your mind to that right now."
"I'll die first!" Hal denied.
"That's exactly what you will do if you don't agree
to play for my Benefit here and now."
Hal moved toward the door.
"Do you agree?" Mrs. Paxton insisted.
"Certainly not!"
"Very well, then, I'll tell the police what I know.
Either you play for the Benefit or you go to jail."
"I'll take jail gladly," he barked and fled the box.
Joan was directly behind him. He started down the
corridor, Joan at his heels.
"Go away from me," he ordered.
"But I want to tell you something."
"And I don't want to hear it." He increased his
stride.
"You'll be sorry if you don't listen."
"That wouldn't surprise me in the least. I've been
sorry about everything you and your mother have
done to me."
They rounded the corner of the balcony and started
down the long side. Joan was fairly running to keep
up with him. "Mother won't tell the police," she
offered reassuringly.
"Let her. I might get a little peace in jail."


SUDDEN SILENCE 141
"But I thought you wanted to get away from San
Francisco tomorrow night."
"I do."
"Then listen to what I have to tell you."
"No, thanks."
"Very well, stubborn, go to jail. I'll see you hung
before I tell you now. You ought to be in jail," Joan
ground out. She turned on her heel and left him.
He watched her for a moment and then followed
her. "I say, wait a minute. I was angry and conse-
quently too hasty. I have a rotten temper. It's al-
ways getting me into trouble."
Joan paid no attention but increased her pace. He
had to lengthen his stride to keep up with her. She
started to run.
"Be reasonable, can't you?" he asked, trotting
behind her.
"Go away from me," Joan ordered.
"But I want to hear what you have to tell me!"
"And I don't want to tell you now," she flung back.
She darted around the corner.
Hal overtook her. Caught her in his arms and
swung her against the wall. He placed his hands on
the wall so that his arms made a cage. Joan was
panting slightly from the exertion. Her eyes were
flashing.
"Tell me," he insisted. "You're my prisoner now
and a very beautiful one."


142 SUDDEN SILENCE
"And you're just a dumb band leader," she chided.
She ducked under his arms and ran for Mrs. Dufrane's
box.
She was surprised to see Jimmie Farr at the table
talking very confidentially with her mother. Jimmie
looked like the cat who had swallowed the canary.
He jumped up when he saw Joan and seemed anxious
to get away, but Joan planted herself squarely before
him and demanded, "What's she been telling you?"
"Just social notes," he answered. He saw Hal come
into the box and said, "Hello, Harrison. Have you
anything to say now?"
"Not a thing," Hal answered. "What's going on
here?"
"Nothing that need interest you now, Mr. Harri-
son."
"Any little notes you'd like to give me, Miss Pax-
ton?" Jimmie asked.
"No."
"Then I'll toddle along. Good night."
"I can depend on you to tell the truth, can't I?"
Mrs. Paxton asked, beaming at him.
"Absolutely," he said. "I agree with you. And
thanks for the tip." Farr slipped around Joan and
out of the box.
Hal was puzzled by the whole scene. Joan ignored
him. "Will you tell me now?" he asked.
"No."


SUDDEN SILENCE 143
"Come, darling. We mustn't associate with jail-
birds."
"Aren't you being a little premature, Mrs. Paxton?"
Hal asked.
"Not as much as you think. I wish you'd stop
annoying my daughter with your attentions. Can't
you see they are distasteful to her? Come with
Mother." She put a fluttering hand on Joan's arm
and moved toward the exit door.
Hal didn't understand the strange turn things had
taken.
As Mrs. Paxton reached the door she turned and
said with withering emphasis, "I wouldn't permit a
murderer to play for my Hands Across the Sea
Benefit!"


146 SUDDEN SILENCE
reached for her dressing-gown one of her mules
rattled to the floor.
"Is that you, Joan?" Mrs. Paxton called from the
adjoining room. "Can't you sleep?"
"No."
"Neither can I." Mrs. Paxton sighed wearily. She
appeared in the door, a net on her hair, adhesive
crescents beside her eyes, a chin bandage holding her
extra chin in place.
"Guilty conscience?" Joan asked.
"Certainly not. Why should I feel guilty? I
haven't done a thing. I . . ." She yawned with diffi-
culty due to the bandage. The painful operation
over, she asked wistfully, "I wonder if it's too early
for breakfast?"
"Good idea! I'd like some coffee myself. I'll call
room service. What will you have?"
"The usual—no, make it fruit, cereal and ham and
eggs this morning. And, Joan, tell them to send up
a paper. All the papers. I think it will be fun to
read about the murder over our coffee, don't you?"
As Joan turned from the telephone she asked,
"Why are you so interested in the papers? You know
more about what happened than the newspaper men.
You were with Burke when he was asking all the
questions."
"You'll see," Mrs. Paxton promised archly.
Joan paid no attention as she absently pulled on a


SUDDEN SILENCE 147
pair of stockings and then fluffed up her hair. Mrs.
Paxton stood watching her. "We'll go home tomor-
row, Joan," she said.
"But I thought you were determined to have Har-
rison play for you! What about your bet?"
"I'm willing to lose the bet. I don't expect to see
Hal Harrison ever again."
"I must see him before we go. It's very important."
"You take Mother's advice and stay away from
him. As a matter of fact, you must not see him
again."
"And why not? You followed him across the
United States, you know, and dragged me with you."
"Reggie wouldn't like it," Mrs. Paxton pro-
nounced. "That reminds me, I think I'll wire Reg-
gie that we're coming. How would you like to be
married on a nice cool October day?"
"Not to Reggie," Joan said quickly.
"Now, Joan, Mother knows what is best for you."
"If Reggie is your idea, you don't, so let's not dis-
cuss it any further."
"But, Joan, . . ."
"I won't marry Reggie and the sooner you get that
notion out of your head, the better it will be for all
of us," Joan flared.
Any further conversation was cut short by the ar-
rival of waiters with the breakfast table and a neat
pile of the morning papers. When they were alone,


148 SUDDEN SILENCE
Mrs. Paxton hastened to the table and reached for the
papers. In her hurry she brushed them to the floor.
With a grunt she bent over to pick them up.
Paper in hand, she toddled toward the window for
a better light and started to read. After a moment
she cried, "Oh! oh! oh!" She sank into a chair, tears
of anger and frustration filling her eyes.
Joan leaped across the room. "What is it?"
Mrs. Paxton couldn't speak. She pointed at the
paper where Joan read:
BAND LEADER MYSTERIOUSLY MURDERED!
New York Society Girl Hoodwinks Police.
Pulls Wool over Eyes of Gullible Inspector
to Save Hal Harrison from Arrest!
Beneath a four-column cut of Hal, Mrs. Dufrane,
Mrs. Paxton and Joan, a caption read:
The local social leader, Mrs. John Carter Dufrane, and
her New York friends, Mrs. Llewellyn Paxton and daugh-
ter, Joan, with Hal Harrison immediately after being
questioned about the death of Phil Martin.
The story followed:
Joan Paxton, the New York debutante who has followed
Harrison across the country, last night lied effectively
to divert Inspector Burke's suspicions from the famous
singer and band leader. This paper can prove this state-
ment and offers the information to the police for what
it is worth.


SUDDEN SILENCE 149
Joan threw the paper to the floor and stamped on
it in a frenzy of rage. Her anger was overwhelming
because there was nothing she could do about it.
One doesn't choke one's mother if one is a normal
person, no matter what the provocation might be.
"Joan, darling!" Mrs. Paxton cried tearfully.
"Don't! You'll get a headache."
"I have a headache!" Joan cried. "Why did you
doit? Why? Why?"
"I didn't want them to print anything mean about
you," Mrs. Paxton explained tearfully.
"So you told that reporter things he'd have given
his eye-teeth to have known. And you just handed it
to him. What do you think Burke will do to us
now?"
"But I was afraid they might misconstrue things.
That reporter promised me to word it all very care-
fully. He was just going to hint to the police. He
said he'd be subtle."
"He was as delicate as a twenty-four-inch gun."
Joan paced up and down the room.
Mrs. Paxton poured herself a cup of coffee. "Come
have your coffee. You'll feel better. Oh, dear, the
eggs are cold! The idea of their serving cold food!"
"There's one consolation in the whole business,"
Joan said heartfully. "This will be the end of Reg-
gie. He'd never marry me now." She was seething,
trying to vent her anger. She stopped suddenly,


i5o SUDDEN SILENCE
pointed an accusing finger at her mother and de-
manded, "What will he think of me now?"
"I'll explain it all to Reggie." Mrs. Paxton's faith
in her ability to fix all things was astounding. "I'll
tell him all about it."
"Reggie! I wasn't thinking about Reggie! I
meant that conceited, egotistical, self-satisfied Hal
Harrison!" Joan strode to her dressing-table with
the tread of a soldier going into battle.
She took a comb and raked it viciously through her
hair, crying, "Ouch!" as the fine teeth caught the
scar which had formed as a result of her bump under
the stand.
"What is it, dear?" Mrs. Paxton asked solicitously.
"Nothing, just that scar."
"You must be careful. You might get an infec-
tion. I knew a woman once . . ."
"Save it," Joan cut her short. "I'm not going to
get an infection and I'm not going to die until I've
told that reporter what I think of him." She threw
down the comb. She jerked the belt of her robe
firmly around her slim waist, tied it into an enduring
knot. With lips set in a firm line, she picked up the
paper. She opened the hall door and marched grimly
down the corridor.
At the door of Hal's suite she knocked rapidly.
There was no answer. She banged again. Still no
answer. She kicked at the door, hurting her foot.


SUDDEN SILENCE 153
He wheeled. "Can I depend on that?" He strode
toward her.
"Yes, anything." Her eyes were rimmed with tears
of contrition as they looked up at him earnestly.
Her lips were slightly parted. All her pert smartness
was gone. She was just a very pretty young girl with
tears in her eyes.
Hal was captivated by her woeful expression. She
seemed so beaten by what had happened. He stared
at her for a moment. His mood changed. He wanted
to comfort this girl who was feeling the thing so
deeply. Before he realized what he was doing he
bent forward and kissed her gently.
Joan recoiled as if stung. A kiss was the last thing
in the world she had expected. Being essentially a
fair person she had honestly wanted to make amends
for the terrible thing her mother had done. In-
stead of meeting her man to man, he had kissed her.
She swung away from him, wiping his kiss from her
lips.
Maxie's reaction was immediate. "Well, I'll be
damned!" he exploded. "Are you crazy?"
"Not him!" Joan said scornfully. "He's not crazy!
It's just his great lover complex."
Hal was surprised at himself. It was the last thing
in the world he had expected to do as he crossed to
her. "But . . ." he started to explain.
"You needn't say a thing," she retorted quickly.


154 SUDDEN SILENCE
"It's quite all right. I left myself open for it. I'm
to blame. I'll probably see you in jail."
"It can't be as bad as that," Hal said. "We'll find
a way out."
"Maybe," Maxie said morosely. His eyes followed
Joan's trim figure as she hurried toward the door.
"Wait a minute. You can't go out now!" Hal
cried as he heard angry voices arguing in the hall.
Joan hesitated. A forceful pounding sounded against
the door.
Hal ran to Joan and grabbed her by the arm.
"You've got to hide!"
"I've nothing to conceal. I'm not afraid."
"Then I am. I won't have people knowing that
you were in my room dressed like that at this hour of
the morning."
"I can take it if you can't," she answered defiantly
and squared herself to face him.
Exasperated, Hal glanced wildly about the room.
"Get in there!" he ordered, pointing toward a closet.
"I won't," she defied.
With a quick sweep of his arms, Hal gathered her
up, crossed the room, dropped her into the closet
and closed the door. "Be quiet," he ordered as he
turned the key. In his haste, he closed the door on
part of her gown. As she tried to pull the gown
through, a bit of lace caught on a sliver of wood and
tore.


156 SUDDEN SILENCE
"You fool!" Hal raged and wrenched the gun from
the amazed man's hand.
In a bound Hal was at the door. He yanked it
open. An unconscious Joan tumbled lifelessly into
his arms.
"That does it!" Maxie groaned as he ran forward.
"This means the end of our contract with Higgins.
A girl murdered in your room at this hour of the
morning."
"Shut up! Call a doctor! Do something!" Hal
cried as he carried Joan to the couch.
Belknap stared at Joan. His mouth dropped open
in utter bewilderment.
"But . . . But . . ." the strange man stammered.
Joan sighed, then recovering quickly said, "I'm
all right, I guess."
Maxie gave a whoop of relief and turned to the
man, demanding, "Who do you think you are, shoot-
ing up the place, nearly killing people?"
Hal was tenderly solicitous of Joan as she insisted
upon sitting up. "I never faint," she assured Hal.
"I didn't sleep much. I . . ."
"Should I call the cops?" Maxie asked. "What do
you want to do with Jesse James?"
"Not the police," Joan cried and flashed a look at
Hal.
The man drew a crumpled newspaper from his
pocket and gazed at it, completely puzzled.


SUDDEN SILENCE 157
"You'd better go," Belknap suggested to him.
"Wait a minute," Hal cut in. "Who are you, and
why did you come shooting your way into my suite?"
"This picture," the man began an explanation.
"My wife! I thought she was here!"
"Why should she be here?" Hal demanded. "I
don't know your wife."
"But the picture . . ." The man tapped it with
his finger.
"He's John Carter Dufrane," Belknap explained.
"He came raving into the lobby this morning waving
the paper and insisting that his wife was here with
you."
"She didn't come home all night," Dufrane said.
His eyes were hollow spots in red rims as he looked at
them. "I didn't know what to think. I was nearly
crazy. I went out into the streets looking for her.
I couldn't find her anywhere. Then I bought the
morning paper. The first thing I saw was her pic-
ture taken with you." He laughed bitterly. "She
has always had a weakness for orchestra leaders but
she didn't think I knew it. When I saw the picture
I thought ..."
"Forget it. She's probably home now."
"But why didn't she come home earlier?"
Joan moved forward. "I can explain about the
picture. Mrs. Dufrane was with my mother. We
had a box together. She left us about twelve-thirty."


158 SUDDEN SILENCE
"But she didn't come home," he insisted. "Was
she alone?"
"Yes. When she left us she promised to join us
for tea this afternoon."
"I don't understand it," he insisted.
Hal took him by the arm and led him unprotesting
to the door. "You'll find your wife and we'll forget
all this ever happened," he promised. He gave Du-
frane a gentle shove into the hall. Belknap minced
in their wake. At the door he turned and said, "All
I have to say, Mr. Harrison, is that I'm surprised at
you." He left quickly. Hal closed the door after
them.
"Phew!" He leaned against the door as limp as a
day-old cream-puff.
"Why don't you get dressed before the police
come," Maxie suggested.
"Wait a minute," Joan said, "I must go."
"Why the rush?"
"Because we've brought you nothing but bad luck,
Mother and I, but that's all over now. We're leav-
ing for New York on the first possible train."
"And desert me with all my troubles?" Hal asked.
"I'm not a sinking ship. I haven't foundered yet.
We'd better talk this over first. I'm not so sure you'll
be allowed to leave, you know. How about a cup
of coffee?"


SUDDEN SILENCE 159
She looked at him a moment, smiled faintly, and
replied, "Why not?"
Maxie was already at the telephone giving the
order.
"You had a close call. I don't see how the bullet
missed you. I was afraid to open the door."
"I was bent down, trying to pull my nightgown
through the crack. Then I heard you cry, 'Don't
shoot!' and I didn't know what was happening until
the bullet crashed through the door over my head."
"He might have killed you." Hal was still con-
cerned with that possibility.
"The man's crazy," Maxie suggested.
"She told me he was jealous," Joan said, "but I'd
no idea he was a madman to boot."
"What do you suppose happened to Mrs. Du-
frane?" Hal asked.
"I don't know. She seemed worried about some-
thing all evening. When she told me about her hus-
band and mentioned publicity, I thought that was
her trouble."
"We nearly had another murder on our hands,"
Maxie said.
"I'm hard to kill," joan answered laughingly.
"I guess you are. I'd rather have your luck than
a license to steal." Then he turned to Hal. "If
you're up for the day, you'd better get going on your
throat exercises."


160 SUDDEN SILENCE
"I'd forgotten," Hal answered. He felt of his
throat for a moment and then hummed, "me, me, me,
me, me-me."
Joan giggled at the performance.
"What's so funny?" he demanded.
"Nothing!"
"All singers have to do this," he answered. "It's
very important to have your throat opened. Me-me,
me, me, me-me."
"While you're doing your me-mes why not put
your robe on before we have any more callers?"
Maxie suggested.
With a nod to Joan, Hal went to his room. He
combed his hair carefully, gurgling, "Me, me, and do,
re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do." He paused a moment to
look at himself quizzically. He rubbed critical fin-
gers over his fresh beard, shrugged, and went on
with his scales as he slipped into his beautifully mono
grammed dressing-gown.
The coffee had arrived when he returned to the
sitting-room. Joan was on the couch, ready to pour.
He was still loosening his voice, running the scales
gaily. Maxie gave him a questioning stare.
"There's no reason for him to feel so chipper,"
Maxie thought sourly. i
"Quite a lark in the morning, aren't you?" Joan
asked as he sat down beside her.


SUDDEN SILENCE 161
"It has to be done. Quite necessary. It's a habit.
I owe it . . ."
"To your public?" she asked impishly as she
handed him a cup of coffee.
"Does it annoy you?" he asked casually.
"I wouldn't say that. It is no concern of mine."
"But it is. I'm going to make myself very im-
portant to you from now on. If my exercises annoy
you after we're married we'll have to have separate
suites."
Joan was startled by the bland statement, but poor
Maxie was overwhelmed. He gulped, choked, and
sputtered a fountain-like spray of hot coffee across
the room.
"And what of Mary Dale?" Joan asked.
"Mary and I are just friends," he answered. "I'm
serious."
Joan's laughter rippled over the coughing sput-
terings of poor Maxie.
"Listen!" Hal cried. "I want to know some-
thing about the man who is waiting for you in New
York."
"Mother was arranging that this morning. She
thinks I ought to be married in October. Do you
think that's a good time to be married?"
"Look here," he begged. "Don't josh so! I know
we haven't known each other very long, but that
doesn't matter, does it?"


162 SUDDEN SILENCE
"Do you expect me to say, 'This is so sudden,' and
fall into your arms, filled with gratitude and thank-
fulness for the great honor you are paying me?"
Maxie, still choking, was trying to keep back the
coughs so that he could hear the balance of their
conversation.
"Do you think I'm as bad as that?" he asked seri-
ously. "Can't you see the real me that is buried be-
neath this necessary front of public life?"
"I'm not criticizing you or your life. I'm just
wondering why you've had this sudden change of
heart. You did hate me last night, you know."
"I thought I hated you but I've changed my mind."
"You'll probably hate me again before we're
through with this. We're not out of the woods yet.
Wait until Burke sees the papers."
"Oh, hang Burke and the whole silly businessl"
"I wish we could," she said thoughtfully.
"I will if you say so," he promised boastfully.
Before Joan could think of an answer there was a
determined bang, bang on the door. Then without
more ado it swung open and Burke and two officers
walked in.
"So you lied to me, eh?" Burke barked at Joan.
"You thought you'd make a fool of me in the news-
papers, huh?"
Joan jumped to her feet. "Inspector Burke! We


SUDDEN SILENCE 163
were talking about you. We were coming over to
explain. It wasn't all lies. I . . ."
"I wouldn't believe you now on a stack of Bibles,"
he growled.
"But, Inspector, . . ." Hal came forward.
Burke didn't even listen to what they were trying
to say. He pointed at Hal. "Come on, Harrison.
We're going down to headquarters to book you on
a charge of murder. Get some clothes on."
"Why put me in jail?" Hal demanded. "I can't
get away."
"Jail's where you belong and jail's where you're
going! Get dressed! Go with him, Thurston, and
see that there's no funny business. You stay in the
hall, Smith, and see that no one leaves by any of the
other doors."
Maxie groaned. He clutched Burke by the arm.
"Don't do this, Inspector. He ain't done nothing.
His sponsor'll go crazy if Hal gets mixed up in a
scandal! It'll ruin his popularity. We gotta be in
New York by Tuesday to start a new series of broad-
casts!"
"That's just too bad," Burke replied coldly.
Hal shrugged. Followed by the policeman, he en-
tered his bedroom.
"Will this affect his contract?" Joan asked Maxie.
"Will it? Higgins is the head of the Purity


164 SUDDEN SILENCE
League. He won't stand for any nonsense and Hal
knows it. We've got to get out of this somehow."
"We will," Joan assured him brightly.
"Not where you're going," Burke said grimly.
"Me?" Joan pretended a surprise she did not feel.
"Yes, you. Get some clothes on. I'm arresting
you, too."
"On what charge?" Joan demanded.
"As an accessory after the fact, interfering with
justice, and willfully shielding a criminal. You're
going to jail."
Hal's door flew open. He was only partially
dressed. "You can't take her to jail!" he bellowed.
"Can't! Who says I can't?"
"Well, she won't be of any use to you there," Hal
said cockily.
"Oh, she won't, won't she?"
"No."
"And why not?"
"It's the law."
"You're telling me about the law!" Burke's face
was reddening with rage.
Hal shrugged. "You know you can't make a wife
testify against her husband."
"Wife?" Burke gasped.
Maxie gulped, suppressing a groan. He reached
for his box of aspirin as Joan clapped a hand over
her mouth to keep back a wild desire to laugh at


166 SUDDEN SILENCE
answer you immediately when you Call me Mrs.
Harrison."
"Wait a minutel What facts did you mean just
now?" Burke asked, suspicion tinged with anxiety
in his voice.
"It wasn't all lies that story I told you. I was near
Mr. Harrison. The only lie I told was about his
arms being around me. They weren't and we were
not having a lovers' quarrel. We were arguing about
something else when I said I hoped he'd hang. I
was trying to make him angry."
She told Burke about her mother's pending Bene-
fit and their crazy dash across country in pursuit of
Hal. She was a brilliant raconteur and added sev-
eral embellishments which made him smile once or
twice. She then hurried on to tell him about crawl-
ing under the bandstand and her experiment, the re-
sults of which he already knew. He laughed openly
when she explained Hal's alleged sting which had so
startled all the people in the dance hall.
"You see, Inspector, I'm sure that's the way the
murder was committed. Don't you agree with me?"
"There's something in what you say," he admitted
grudgingly. "Why didn't you tell me this last night?
Why did you let that report get into the papers to
make a monkey out of me?"
She explained her mother's desire to force Hal to


SUDDEN SILENCE 167
play for the Benefit. "I wouldn't do a thing like
that for many reasons," she added.
"It puts a different aspect on the situation," he con-
ceded. "I'll have to think it over."
"I'm sure it does," she agreed. "I know the mur-
derer was in there. He had to be."
"And you went in there messing around and ruined
all our chances of finding any clues," he accused.
"Fingerprints and all that sort of business."
"But the murderer was wearing gloves," she re-
minded him.
"That's right. But how was it done?" he asked
thoughtfully. "How could a man balance a knife
like that on a stick?"
"You'll find out," she said confidently.
"And you didn't see any stick or pole?" he asked.
"No. Nothing but the blue light gleaming on the
steel."
; "That's queer," he said slowly.
"Inspector, ..." Joan caught the lapel of his
coat in her hand but he brushed it away. She paid
no attention to the rebuff as she hurried on, "About
the newspapers."
He stiffened as he remembered his own ridicule.
"You can make Farr look silly!" she promised.
"Give a statement to all the other papers, telling them
that Mr. Harrison, you and I agreed on that story
because you didn't want the criminal to realize that


168 SUDDEN SILENCE
you already knew how the crime was committed.
Say that you now have evidence leading directly to
the real criminal and expect to make an arrest some-
time today."
"I have no evidence and you know it," he growled.
"But . . ."
"You think the crime was committed that way and
I'm inclined to agree with you, but where's our mo-
tive and who did it?"
"But, Inspector, surely since you now realize that
Mr. Harrison couldn't have done it, you will be able
to see things with fresh eyes. There must be some-
thing out there at the Gardens which will give an
experienced man like yourself the clue you need."
Hal came back fully dressed. "All ready, Burke?"
he asked.
"For what?" Burke snapped.
"Jail, of course," Hal laughed shortly. "It's going
to be a great publicity stunt. I'll pack 'em in for
weeks on the strength of your mistake. You know I
ought to give you a commission on my extra box-
office."
"You're not going to jail, not yet! The little lady
here has told me a couple of things."
Hal stopped near the piano. "But you said . . ."
he remonstrated.
"Never mind what I said," Burke retorted.
Hal struck a note thoughtfully. "But I want to


SUDDEN SILENCE 169
go to jail. I don't think you ought to deprive me of
this publicity. It was your own suggestion, you
know. I want to go to jail!" He looked gaily over
his shoulder at Joan as he accompanied his last words
with staccato notes. He liked the sound and con-
tinued singing, "I want to go to jail."
"Stop that nonsense! Say, what kind of a honey-
moon is this?" Burke demanded.
"What's that got to do with my going to jail?" Hal
demanded. "I'm an artist. I have my public to
consider. My career comes first. Do I go to jail?"
He punctuated his question with a chord.
"You may wind up there yet. Remember this,
you two. Don't leave San Francisco again until I
give you permission."
"We must leave tomorrow morning by plane,"
Hal said as his fingers floated over the keys.
"You'll leave when I give the word and not be-
fore!" Burke barked. "And stop that damned
racket!" he shouted. "Come on, boys!" He started
for the door.
"You'll solve the murder by midnight, won't
you?" Joan begged, running after him. "It means
so much to Mr. Harrison."
"I hope so," Burke flung back at her.
As the door closed behind the law, Joan moved
over to the piano, where Hal was busy playing with


170 SUDDEN SILENCE
one finger, "Tell me, pretty maiden, are there any
more at home like you?"
Joan watched him speculatively for a moment, her
foot keeping time with his playing. He finished and
looked up with a grin. "We fixed that, didn't we?"
"We did." She spun on her heel. "We're even
now!"
"What do you mean, even?" He followed her.
"Where are you going?"
"To get a quick divorce. Talk about me getting
you into a mess!"
He reached out and grabbed her arm. "Relax,"
he advised. "I did it to keep you out of jail. Who's
going to find out about it?"
"Burke," she answered with assurance. "He isn't
half as dumb as we think he is."
"But it gives us a little time. We've got to do
something about this murder ourselves. We're in a
mess. Unless we supplement the work the police
are doing, our children will be native sons."
"You do jump ahead, don't you?" His remark
startled her but she replied at once to hide her feel-
ings. "Maybe you're right about turning detective.
What shall we do?"
"Right? Of course I'm right! We'll all be on
our way to New York tomorrow morning! Just you
wait and see."
There was a discreet tap on the door.


SUDDEN SILENCE 171
"Now what?" Maxie groaned.
To Hal's "Come in" the door swung open. It
was Mr. Belknap, the manager. He was full of
smiles and contrition. "Why didn't you tell me?"
he asked coyly. "I should have known. I'm sorry
for what I said to you, Mr. Harrison, and I don't
know what you think of me, Mrs. Harrison."
"What are you driving at?" Hal demanded.
"Oh, you know." He gave a half-titter. "In-
spector Burke told me about you. I took the liberty
of ordering a wedding breakfast for you. It's my
little present." His hand fluttered toward the door.
He called, "Come in, come in."
A middle-aged waiter rolled in a service cart.
"Compliments of the hotel," Mr. Belknap beamed
as he hovered over the table which a second waiter
had carried in and arranged. Belknap fluttered
about, adding deft touches here and there to the
silver and cloth.
"It's just ducky, isn't it?"" Joan said to Hal.
His reply was prevented by an indignant, shrill
voice in the hall demanding admittance.
"Mother!" Joan groaned.
"I most certainly will go in!" Mrs. Paxton
shrieked as she backed into the room arguing with
a waiter. As she stepped backward her heels caught
in her negligee. A few more steps and she would
have been denuded except for her nightgown. She


172 SUDDEN SILENCE
stopped, kicked her feet free from the robe and,
whirling round, pointed an accusing finger at Joan
and demanded, "What have you been doing in here
all this time? I couldn't believe my eyes when I
woke up from my little nap."
Belknap looked at her reprovingly. "Madam!"
he gasped.
She ignored him. "Joan, go to your room at once.
I'll settle with this young man. To think that a
daughter of mine ..."
The march of incoming waiters bearing trays cut
her short and forced her to one side of the room.
"What is this?" she demanded.
Mr. Belknap gave her a sly nudge. "As if you
didn't know!" he said coyly. He turned to Hal.
"Will you want to see the reporters now, Mr. Har-
rison? They're here," he said. "I sent for the
photographers, too," he added.
"Did you send for them?" Joan demanded angrily.
"No. I've no idea how they knew. They seem
to know everything," Belknap cried as he hustled
hither and yon.
"Burke," Hal's lips formed the word as Joan
glanced toward him.
She flashed a auick understanding smile and
shrugged.
"Photographers?" Mrs. Paxton exclaimed, puffing
her hair up. "What for?"


SUDDEN SILENCE 173
"Don't be silly!" Belknap admonished as his flut-
tering hands indicated the young couple. "You
know the papers love pictures of a bridal party."
"Bridal party!" Mrs. Paxton gasped. "Bridal . . .
Joan! You . . ." She swayed forward and swooned
in Belknap's arms.


SUDDEN SILENCE 175
too complicated and meant too much hard, labori-
ous work tracking down hundreds of wrong clues
before the right one turned up.
He was perfectly satisfied that Hal Harrison had
a reasonable motive for the murder. Suppose the
girl was wrong? Had he been a fool to listen to her
story? She was in love with Harrison. Perhaps she
knew that Harrison had stabbed Martin and she had
cooked up a story to save her lover's life. She ad-
mitted having lied to him. No; that didn't hold.
He was inclined to believe Joan Paxton because the
statement made by Pete Schwartz corroborated her
story.
There was something fishy about the whole set-up,
however. None of the parts clung together. Why?
He had been all wrong about Harrison and the Dale
girl. He had jumped to the obvious conclusion that
they were in love and wanted Martin out of the way.
In nine cases out of ten, he would have been right
and the case would have been over. This was the
tenth case, however, and his theory had to be aban-
doned because of the marriage of Harrison and the
Paxton girl.
Strange that Kelton should have been at the Gar-
dens. It wasn't like Kelton, and yet, if he was in
love with Charlotte it would explain everything.
Even men like Kelton veer from the normal when
they are in love.


176 SUDDEN SILENCE
There was the Dufrane woman, too. It looked
bad for her for a while. Perhaps she was telling the
truth about the money. Odd that it should be the
exact amount found on Martin. Too bad the men
had not been able to find any important papers in
Martin's flat. A package of letters belonging to Mrs.
Dufrane would write finis to the case at once. It
would be so easy to reconstruct. She went out there
to see Martin, gave him the money, but he refused
to return her letters. Furious, she had killed him.
There ought to be papers. Martin must have kept
records. He'd have a look at that apartment later.
The men may not have been thorough. He'd do
that after he had looked over the Gardens in day-
light.
Burke was annoyed with his suspects for not con-
forming to a pattern. He was determined to keep
the case as simple as possible. With Kelton, Harri-
son and Mrs. Dufrane out of it, who was the next
most likely suspect? The Dale girl, of course. She
had some ax to grind. She admitted wanting a di-
vorce from Martin. Perhaps she was in love with
some other man and wanted to be free. It was just
the sort of crime a woman could and would think
of committing. How did he know that she didn't
do it? Joan Paxton swore that Mary Dale had
passed her just before Martin was killed. It had
been dark there. The Paxton girl could be wrong.


178 SUDDEN SILENCE
sound asleep and missed the news of the wedding?
Ten minutes later he was at his desk calling the
San Francisco papers. He even followed Joan's sug-
gestion and told them that the story in the Crescent
was a cooked up job to give the real murderer con-
fidence. No, he was not in a position to divulge the
name of the murderer. He promised them all a
good break later in the day.


XI
At the hotel bel-
knap was enjoying himself. He had roused the
members of Hal's orchestra, inviting them all to the
impromptu breakfast.
When Hal realized what Belknap had been doing,
he had a hurried consultation with Joan. After con-
sidering the situation from all angles they decided
to go on pretending that they were married, for the
duration of the breakfast at least. Hal argued that
the news might slip out and they would be caught in
a second lie before they had had a chance to take
any action whatever.
In spite of Belknap's efficient management and
prissy fussiness, the feast lacked the sparkle and verve
that should have been rampant on such a gay occa-
sion. Mrs. Paxton, for once in her life, was
comparatively quiet. The bride and groom were
preoccupied. Maxie floundered about in a fog, col-
liding with reporters and photographers until he
managed to shoo them from the room. Mary Dale
sat back deep in thought. Joe Stevens tried to liven
the party with a few impromptu melodies, but that


180 SUDDEN SILENCE
didn't work because it was barely seven o'clock and
some of the other hotel guests made irritable protests
that could not be ignored.
At the very height of the forced gaiety, Mary Dale
slipped away from the table and left the room. Joan
followed her. There was an awkward moment as the
two girls faced each other. Joan advanced impul-
sively and put her hand on Mary's arm. "I'm sorry,"
she said.
"So'm I," Mary replied honestly. "It's just one of
those things. Life is like that, isn't it? Oh, well,"
she shrugged and busied herself with a compact, try-
ing to mask her feelings with powder and rouge. As
she snapped the lid closed, she said, "You won't ever
tell him about me, will you?"
"Never," Joan replied quickly.
Mary kissed Joan impulsively. "I wish you luck!
You're a good kid! It won't be easy at times being
the wife of a man like Hal. You want to be happy,
don't you?" she asked seriously. Joan nodded.
"Then always remember he's a band leader. He lives
at night when other people are asleep. It isn't a
normal life but you've got sense enough to get used
to it." She turned toward the door. "Let's go back."
Joan stopped her. "Mary, wait! I can't lie to
you." Quickly she related the circumstances and
Hal's lie to prevent her arrest.
"He's in love with you just the same," Mary said.


SUDDEN SILENCE 181
"He'll marry you, too. If I were you I'd do it right
away before the police learn of this second hoax.
We're not out of the woods yet, any of us."
"What do you mean by that?" Joan asked quickly.
"There are so many complications." Mary's voice
trailed away.
"It's none of my business, Mary, but you're worried
about something. I've been watching you. What is
it? Do you want to tell me? Are you afraid?" she
asked bluntly.
"Yes, I am. I'm bound to be connected with the
murder."
"But why?" Joan gasped.
"It goes back to the time I wanted my divorce.
When I realized what Phil was planning to do, I
wrote him a threatening letter in which I told him
I'd kill him if he ever interfered with Hal in any
way. I wrote the letter before I knew that Hal could
keep Phil quiet and needed no help from me."
"That's nothing to worry about." Joan tried to
laugh away her fears.
"You didn't know Phil. He kept that letter. If
the police ever find it they'll arrest me."
"But they searched his apartment," Joan reminded
her.
"That doesn't prove a thing. They didn't know
Phil."
"Why didn't you tell us about it last night?" Joan


182 SUDDEN SILENCE
asked. "We could have done something about it
then."
"You had trouble enough of your own last night."
"Perhaps Martin destroyed it?"
"Not Phil."
"Try not to think about it," Joan suggested ten-
derly. "No news is good news. It hasn't been found,
you can be sure of that. Burke was here, you know,
and when he couldn't arrest us he'd certainly have
turned to you if he had the slightest grounds for
suspicion."
"That's the point. I must get the note. Once they
find it they'll arrest me."
"Then we'll have to get it for you."
"If it isn't too late," Mary added pessimistically.
"It's never too late to try. Wait a minute." Joan
went to the door leading to the sitting-room and called
Hal, who came immediately.
As soon as she explained Mary's predicament to him
he said, "We've got to go over to Phil's apartment at
once."
"But the police may be there," Joan objected.
"We've got to take that chance. We want to find
his papers before the police get them. Burke would
love to find something as definite as that. Remember
how eagerly he looked through the things the men
brought from Phil's apartment? Burke has reached
an impasse. He had only one thing on his mind this


186 SUDDEN SILENCE
with anything which looks suspicious. Any hunt sug-
gestions?" he asked Mary.
Under her direction they began a systematic search
of all likely and unlikely places that had not already
been inspected. When they were discouraged and
ready to give up the search it was Mary who called
Hal to the radio.
"Do you know anything about these machines?"
she asked.
"Not much, why?"
"I can't get the box off. It looks like part of the
set but I don't know."
"If it is, I've never seen such a contraption," he
said, tugging at a box which might very well have
been part of the mechanism.
"Pry it off," Joan suggested.
"What do you think I'm doing?" he asked resent-
fully. He tugged again and the metal cover slid up
his fingers.
They gasped with delight when they saw a small
package of letters, a memorandum book and papers
neatly held together by a broad flat rubber band.
"Give them to me," Mary cried eagerly.
"Okay, but don't stop to look at them here. Let's
get out," Hal advised.
As they crossed the living-room toward the foyer,
Joan stepped on something which crunched under


188 SUDDEN SILENCE
"She might have been there, but a woman wouldn't
have left things in such a mess," Mary objected.
"Not even a frantic woman?" Joan demanded.
"Suppose you had gone there last night, would you
have been careful?"
Mary made no reply. She sat staring ahead of her,
the package of papers in her hands.


XII
Back at the hotel,
safely settled in Hal's sitting-room, Mary and Joan
began a systematic search of Phil Martin's private
papers.
"You can help," Joan suggested to Hal with warm
inclusiveness. She was beginning to feel differently
about Hal. He had put himself in a false position
to keep her from going to jail. In spite of what
Mary had said about his career he had put her first,
thought of her safety instead of his precious public.
"If you don't mind," he said, "I'd rather leave it
to you." His refusal came as a complete rebuff.
It wasn't what he said that nettled her but the way
he had said it. In his tone she sensed a distaste for
the whole business. Well, did he think she was en-
joying it? She curbed an impulse to make a retort
and went on with the papers. She watched him as he
wandered toward the piano. Perhaps he thought they
knew more about such things. Perhaps he had meant
nothing and she was being oversensitive. She had
reached a point where she was willing to make excuses
for him.
189


190 SUDDEN SILENCE
Sitting down at the piano he struck a few chords.
His face was troubled. There were lines of worry
between his eyes. He gazed off into space as his
fingers idly picked out a melody. He played softly,
paying no attention to the girls as they went on with
the search of the papers.
He didn't notice Joan's gasp of surprise as she said,
"This must have been the reason."
"What?" Mary asked leaning forward. "Have you
found it?"
Joan tapped the packet she held in her hand. They
were letters written to Martin by Mrs. Dufrane. "Mrs.
Dufrane was after these," she said quietly. "Poor
foolish woman!"
"What will we do with them?" Mary asked.
"I'd like to return them to her, if you have no
objections," Joan said. "I'll call her now and tell
her not to worry."
While Joan telephoned, Mary went on with her
feverish examination of the papers. When Joan re-
turned she was tucking the packet of letters into her
blouse.
"Did you get her?" Mary asked.
"No. The butler or someone said she was not at
home. I left the number."
At that moment Maxie rushed into the room,
waved a telegram at Hal, and cried, "Now what are
you going to do?"


SUDDEN SILENCE 191
The girls looked up, interested in Hal's reactions
to Maxie's excitement. Hal returned the telegram
without saying a word.
"Well?" Maxie demanded.
Hal scowled darkly but Maxie refused to be silent
and blurted, "Higgins wants a picture of the bride to
run on his publicity posters for the new campaign.
A fine mess we're inl"
"We'll take care of that later," Hal said indiffer-
ently and resumed his playing.
"From the poorhouse, I suppose you mean?" Maxie
growled and turned on his heel.
As they continued the search, Mary became frantic
as she went through paper after paper. Her desire
for haste was transmitted to Joan who, too, worked
feverishly.
"It must be here," Mary insisted when they were
about half through the papers. "He'd never destroy
a thing like that."
Hal sang softly as the search continued. His voice
died away to nothing for a moment as a heavy pound-
ing sounded on the door.
"It's Burke," Joan cried, "I know his touch. Quick,
we must hide these!"
As the girls rustled the papers, collecting them in
handfuls, from the floor, Hal played louder and sang
lustily while the banging continued.
Feverishly the girls stuffed the letters and papers


i92 SUDDEN SILENCE
into the upholstery of the chair where Mary had been
sitting. Joan lifted one of the rugs and scattered a
handful evenly on the floor and replaced the rug.
"Open this door!" Burke's voice shouted.
Hal stopped playing and asked, "Did I hear some-
one at the door?"
"Open up!" Burke demanded.
"Pack your suitcase," Joan said to Hal as she crossed
to the piano and took up the melody where he had
left off. Mary took a powder-puff from her bag and
was dabbing her face as Hal unlocked the door.
"What's going on here?" Burke demanded as he
entered the room followed by Jimmie Farr and the
inevitable policeman.
"Just rehearsing a new song," Hal replied. "Been
waiting long?"
Burke growled.
"What's on your mind, Inspector?"
"Plenty! What were you doing at Phil Martin's
apartment?"
Shocked and surprised by the question, Hal and
Mary exchanged quick glances. Joan continued to
play softly.
"Stop that racket!" Burke bellowed. "Now answer
the question."
"I wanted to tell you about that," Hal began.
"You see, you told me I wouldn't be able to leave


SUDDEN SILENCE 193
San Francisco until you had found Martin's murderer
so I thought I'd do a little detective work myself."
"And why did you go there?" Burke demanded
with emphasis.
"It seemed like a logical starting-place."
"And what did you find there?"
"Nothing."
"What were you looking for?"
"Evidence—clues if I could find any."
Jimmie Farr had been leaning against the door-
jamb enjoying the discomfiture of Hal and the girls.
He was the personification of smugness as he said,
"They're holding out on you, Burke! Don't let them
get away with it."
"You've been holding out yourself," Burke replied
testily. "You said you'd tell me something interesting
when we had the three of them together. Well, here
they are. Spill it! What do you know that I should
know?"
"Well, to begin—" Jimmie started, slowly relishing
the look of consternation on the faces of the group.
"Get going," Burke growled. "You're as bad as a
woman."
"Ask them what they did with Mrs. Dufrane."
"Mrs. Dufrane!" Burke gasped. "You mean that
society woman?"
"Sure! She's been reported missing by her hus-


194 SUDDEN SILENCE
band. You've been so busy following this pair that
you missed the report."
"Well, what about it?"
"My editor put me on the pan because of that
story you gave the other papers. I had to do some-
thing to save my neck, to say nothing of my job, so
I followed a hunch. When I learned that Mrs. Du-
frane was missing, I began to wonder why. The
answer seemed obvious. Mrs. Dufrane knew too
much about what happened out there at the Gardens
last night. She must have seen Harrison when he
killed Martin. She wouldn't want to be involved
in such a case so she tried to get away but was stopped
by your man. Do you remember Harrison butting
in on you last night just after Mrs. Dufrane was taken
to the office to be questioned?"
"That's right," Burke agreed, checking back.
"Why did he leave his orchestra to rush into that
room?" Farr demanded. "He was afraid of what
Mrs. Dufrane might tell you, that's why. I don't
know what he did in there, but he evidently managed
to keep her quiet."
"That's not true!" Joan cried. "Mrs. Du-
frane . . ."
"Wait a minute, Joan. Let him finish," Hal
stopped her from making a statement.
"That's nice of you, Harrison," Farr conceded.
Relishing the situation, Jimmie went on. "Ask them


SUDDEN SILENCE 195
"why they tore Martin's place inside out this morning?
Ask them what they found? Ask them what became
of Mrs. Dufrane."
"Why should we know anything about Mrs. Du-
frane?" Hal asked.
"Didn't you see her roadster parked at the curb in
front of Martin's apartment?" Farr demanded.
"No."
"Well, it's there all right. Maybe you don't know
that car owners must carry their licenses on the posts
of their steering wheels in California."
"I know nothing about Mrs. Dufrane or her car,"
Hal repeated.
"Go ahead, Burke, ask your questions, and while
you're at it ask them why they tried to make a fool
out of you when you were here early this morning!"
"One thing at a time," Burke said.
"But you'll be interested to know that these turtle-
doves are not married. They lied to you about that.
They didn't leave the hotel last night. I have good
friends in Reno. I checked on that story and with
all the airports here. I have a telegram from Reno
saying that there was no such wedding last night."
As Jimmie talked, Burke's face changed from its
customary pink to red. He was nearing the boiling-
point as Farr hurried on. "I wanted to tell you all
this in front of them, Inspector. Look at them! Are
they guilty or not? They've been playing you for a


196 SUDDEN SILENCE
sucker, Burke, trying to pull the wool over your eyes
to keep the facts of the murder quiet!"
"You're crazy!" Hal cried in desperation.
"Oh, he is, is he?" Burke finally boiled over.
Words poured from his mouth, tripping one over the
other. "You're all in this together, all three of
you. I'm beginning to see it now. You did kill
Martin and hoped to fool me with your lies if I'd
been dumb enough to believe you. Why, you . . ."
He advanced threateningly toward Hal.
"Easy, Burke," Jimmie cautioned. "You couldn't
get away with an assault. He's too well known."
Burke stopped, fuming.
"You bungling fool!" Joan railed at Jimmie.
"Why can't you mind your own business?"
"Easy, kid," Mary cautioned. "Keep quiet."
"The news is my business," Jimmie said, "first,
last, and always."
"Come on, Harrison." Burke moved forward and
snapped a pair of cuffs on Hal's unresisting wrists.
"And you, too," he said as he turned to Mary and
put the bracelets on her.
"And what about me?" Joan demanded.
"You're just a lovesick little fool looking for ex-
citement," Burke answered her scornfully.
"Thought you could make a mug out of me, eh?"
Jimmie asked Joan gleefully.
"Nature beat me to it," she replied.


SUDDEN SILENCE 197
"Call the wagon," Burke ordered.
"Wait a minute," Jimmie warned. "Better search
this place, Burke. They must have found something
in Martin's apartment."
"Go ahead," Burke instructed the policeman before
he reached the telephone.
Joan went to the piano, worried about Mary's
frightened eyes. She felt she must warn Mary lest
their hiding-places be revealed. She sat down and
began playing, listlessly at first. Then improvising,
she began to sing, "Your eyes, your eyes, your won-
derful eyes may tell . . ."
"Stop that racket," Burke bellowed as he joined
in the search.
Joan glanced at Hal. "Don't look now," she said
lightly, "but I think these men are hunting for some-
thing."
Hal and Mary nodded in understanding. Their
gaze avoided the rug and chair. Joan went on play-
ing softly. They had practically finished with the
room and she was beginning to feel a bit more com-
fortable when Burke clumsily tripped over the rug
under which the papers had been hidden.
Mary gasped. Burke looked up quickly. Mary
turned her eyes away. Burke balanced on one foot
to flip back the upturned corner of the rug with his
other foot. He paused in the operation. He bal-
anced himself on the one foot teetering for a moment.


198 SUDDEN SILENCE
"Silence!" he commanded. He listened carefully
while the others smiled at his awkwardness. Satis-
fied, he knelt down and threw back the rug. The
next instant Burke, Farr and the policeman were
on their knees avidly opening and sorting the papers.
With a paper in his hand, Burke rose stiffly to his
feet and moved toward them.
"Mary Dale," he began weightily. Mary stepped
forward. "I'm arresting you and you alone for the
murder of Phil Martin."
"Hey! Wait a minute!" Hal cried.
Burke paid no attention to Hal but continued ex-
plaining his charge to Mary. "You hated your hus-
band, as this note clearly proves. You were sore at
him because he threw you down first and then
wouldn't give you a divorce. You had the opportu-
nity last night and so you killed him. You were
down front and screamed to cover yourself and pro-
vide an alibi."
"What?" Jimmie gasped.
"Shut up!" Burke growled. "I know what I'm
doing. I know a few things that you don't know.
You've bungled enough. Why don't you newspaper
men get your facts straight before you go off half-
cocked?" Burke tapped the paper he held in his
hand.
"Look here, Burke!" Hal cried. "You're all
wrong!"


SUDDEN SILENCE 201
need your help. You and Maxie work together. Get
the best lawyer in town. Call Fields. Arrange for
bail. See that Fields and the lawyer are at police
headquarters immediately. We'll be back before you
know it."


XIII
Between them joan
and Maxie kept the wires humming for the next ten
minutes. Fields, amazed at what had happened, prom-
ised to stand bail and suggested they secure the serv-
ices of Alfred Cartwright, a prominent criminal
lawyer.
Cartwright agreed to go to headquarters at once,
where Joan and Maxie hurried to meet him. They
arrived before the lawyer. While waiting, they
asked to see Hal and Mary but were refused per-
mission. Burke did tell them, somewhat grudgingly,
that they would be permitted to attend the hearing
as soon as the Judge had looked over the facts of
the case.
When Cartwright arrived, Joan gave him a rapid
summary of the whole affair. She took particular
pains to impress upon Cartwright the fact that
Burke had done nothing about discovering the actual
method used in the killing of Martin. She explained
her connection with the case, her lie and the series
of Kes which followed in its wake. "I was there.
I did see the knife and I know that neither Hal
902


SUDDEN SILENCE 203
nor Mary could have killed Martin," she ended em-
phatically.
She was just finishing when Dave Fields rushed
in, worried and excited. "What are we going to
do?" he wailed. "My business! This will ruin me!"
"You'll pack the place tonight," Maxie assured
him, "and you know it. What are you doing for
Hal? That's the important thing."
"I can get bail all right. What did the girl do?"
he asked.
"She's accused of double murder."
"Double murder?" Fields repeated.
"Yes. Burke has some crazy idea that Mary killed
Martin and then made way with Mrs. Dufrane."
"Mrs. Dufrane! Why shoot her?"
"The man who killed Martin could tell you that,"
Joan replied. Then she proceeded to ask Fields a
number of questions about the bandstand and
the number of people who were actually acquainted
with the hollow space underneath and the type of
implement the murderer might have used.
"Who'd think of crawling in there?" he asked.
"Anyone who knew the construction of the stand.
It's the only way he could have been killed."
"Have you told Burke?"
"Yes, but he doesn't believe anything we say any
more," she replied disconsolately.


204 SUDDEN SILENCE
"He's had experience with this sort of thing,"
Fields temporized.
"Then why doesn't he get some real clues? Why
doesn't he investigate a lot of things?" Joan de-
manded.
"Like what?" Fields asked.
"The Gardens. The things you permit to go on
out there. Martin's activities, plenty of things."
Before Fields could answer, an attendant came and
led them into a room where the Judge was already
seated at his desk. He looked up from some papers,
gave them a careful scrutiny, and then returned to
his reading. Hal and Mary were brought in.
Joan moved forward and took a chair near the
two prisoners. Fields followed her.
The Judge, his reading finished, moved the papers
to one side, folded his hands and looked at the group
for a long moment. He glanced in the direction of
the lawyer and asked, "Are you representing the
prisoners, Mr. Cartwright?"
"Yes, your Honor. I've arranged for bail."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Cartwright, but I cannot grant
bail after considering the weight of evidence pre-
sented against Mary Dale."
"But, Judge, I'll be ruined!" Fields cried.
"That is not under the consideration of the court,"
the Judge replied.


SUDDEN SILENCE 205
Joan's heart sank. How awful for them both to re-
main in prison!
"But, your Honor, . . ." Cartwright protested.
"Unless you are able to present new facts, Mary
Dale must be booked on the charge of murder and
held without bail." He turned to Burke. "You
know we can do nothing on the Dufrane charge un-
less you can prove murder. Has the body been
found?"
"Not yet," Burke admitted.
"I have a witness here who can positively testify
that Mary Dale could not have killed Martin," Cart-
wright stated.
The Judge arched his brows as Cartwright indi-
cated Joan. "Your name," he asked.
"Joan Paxton," she replied. She stepped forward
eagerly.
"Your Honor," Burke boomed, "the witness is not
dependable. She is a friend of both of them. Her
falsifications have already befogged the case and con-
fused the issue. By rights she ought to be locked up
with the pair of them."
"Do you want to swear out a warrant?" the Judge
demanded, a smile crinkling the corners of his mouth.
"No," Burke replied. "I just don't want her tell-
ing any more lies about this case."
The Judge actually smiled as he said, "Sit down,
Miss Paxton."


SUDDEN SILENCE 209
"You recognized the body of the woman we found
in the basement?"
"She come many time to see Mr. Martin."
"Did other ladies call on Mr. Martin?"
"Many times."
"You told me that a lady came last night, a lady
who did not use the elevator. You told me that that
same lady was at the apartment this morning with a
man and a woman."
"Yes."
"Is that lady here?"
"That lady." He pointed his finger at Mary.
"She come last night soon after lady who die and she
come back this morning with this man and this
lady."
Hal and Joan were astounded. "Deny it, Mary,"
Hal ordered.
"I can't. I did go there last night."
"But, Mary," Joan cried, "why didn't you tell us?"
"What was the use? I didn't go in the apartment,"
she spoke to the Judge, "but I don't suppose anyone
will believe me. I heard someone inside. I was
afraid to go in. I didn't know what to do. When
I heard the elevator going to the floors above, I
slipped out of the building."
"Did you see this lady leave the apartment?" the
Judge asked Joe.
"Only see her come in," he grinned.


2io SUDDEN SILENCE
The Judge turned to the matron. "Take her
away."
"It's an outrage," Joan cried, and wheeling on
Jimmie she cried, "and it's all your fault."
"Be reasonable," he answered.
The Judge's gavel cut short any further alterca-
tion as he proceeded to make arrangements for Hal's
bail. When the Judge told Hal that he was free to
go, Jimmie Farr hurried from the room.
Cartwright asked permission to talk with Mary,
which the Judge granted. When Cartwright and the
Judge had gone, Fields turned to Hal and said, "I
don't understand all this."
"She hasn't done a thing," Hal replied, "but cir-
cumstantial evidence has piled up against her." He
explained about their trip to Martin's apartment and
the finding of the bundle of papers in the radio.
"In the radio?" Fields exclaimed. He shook his
head. "No one but a band leader would ever think
of such a screwy place."
Hal continued. "We were looking for a letter
Mary wrote to him over a year ago."
"Did you find it?" Fields asked.
"The police beat us to it. They came in on us
before we had a chance to go through the papers."
"Maybe they think she killed him for his money,"
Dave suggested tentatively.
"What money?" Hal asked quickly.


SUDDEN SILENCE 211
"Didn't he always seem to have a lot? Maybe he
had investments. Wasn't there anything like that in
his papers?"
"I told you we hadn't seen all of them when the
police arrived," Hal answered irritably.
"And they got them all?" Fields asked.
"No. Just some of them. We managed to hide a
few, but unfortunately Mary's threat was in the batch
they did get."
"Sure, sure! Too bad! Keeping papers is bad
business. You'd better be careful with the others.
It'll look bad if they are found on you," he cau-
tioned.
"They're in a safe place," Hal assured him. "They
may come in handy yet."
"I'd get rid of them," Fields cautioned. "You
don't want to be in any more trouble than you are,
do you?"
"We'll look 'em over first," Hal said.
Fields was called away to sign a bail bond. Hal,
Maxie, and Joan started back to the hotel. They
were an unhappy group riding silently until Maxie
asked forlornly, "Well, whatta we gonna do now?"
"I'd like to throw Farr and Burke into the bay!"
Joan cried. "Of all the unreasonable, blundering
men . . ."
"Wait a minute," Hal interrupted. "You're being


212 SUDDEN SILENCE
a little unfair. We can't blame Burke. It's our fault
if we threw him completely off the scent at the start."
"Are you blaming me?" Joan asked. She still re-
membered the tender way Hal had embraced Mary
at the police station.
"I'm not blaming anyone," he replied. "Just stat-
ing a fact."
"You both acted like nit-wits," Maxie blurted.
"First one and then the other lying like mad. You
sounded as if you were both on a vacation from an
insane asylum."
"O dear," Joan moaned. "I'm always getting
into things that are none of my business!"
"We've plenty to do now," Hal said seriously.
"We've got to get Mary out of this mess."
"And you must work fast," Joan added.
"Fasti" He turned and looked at her intently. "I
won't have a minute's peace while I know she's in
jail."
"We'll have to put Burke back on the right track
again, won't we?" Joan asked.
"Unfortunately Burke won't believe a thing we
say until we have some definite proof to present to
him. Have you any ideas, either of you?" Hal asked
as the cab drew up in front of the hotel.
"We can't do anything here," Joan said.
"We can plan our campaign. There's work for all
of us. We'll save time if we have a system."


SUDDEN SILENCE 213
Joan didn't want a system. She wanted to get
right into the thick of the thing and get going, but
she had to admit to herself that he was undoubtedly
right in his idea.
In Hal's sitting-room, several of the boys were
standing in front of the radio listening to a news
broadcast. As they entered the room a clear voice
was saying:
"There has been a new development in the murder
at the Crystal Gardens. Hal Harrison and Mary Dale
were arrested this morning on a charge of murder.
Miss Dale was held without bond, but Harrison was
permitted his freedom on bail. He left accompanied
by Miss Joan Paxton. It is now reported that Miss
Paxton and Harrison have not been married, as was
previously reported. The death of Mrs. John Carter
Dufrane, who was shot at Phil Martin's apartment,
adds still another mysterious note to the already
baffling mystery."
"Turn it off," Hal said. "Now clear out, boys,
will you? We've got to do something about Mary
and do it fast. We can't leave her here and we've
got to be on our way to New York in the morning.
If you fellows see or hear anything, let us know."
As the boys drifted away, Hal stopped Scat Miller.
"Listen, Scat, the knife must have gone right past
you. Didn't you see anything at all?"
"Not a thing, Hal. You know how I am when


214 SUDDEN SILENCE
we're playing. Most of the time I keep my eyes
closed."
"Okay. We've got to clutch at straws then," Hal
answered. "We'll see you later, Scat."
Joan had settled herself in an armchair and was
lost in thought. Hal lit a cigarette and stood in front
of her. She looked up and asked, "If you were Burke
and all this business hadn't happened"—her hands
made an impulsive gesture—"I mean me and the lies
and all that, what would you have done to find the
murderer?"
"I'd have run all the clues to earth," Hal answered.
"You weren't in the room with him when he was
getting so suspicious of Kingford," Maxie cut in.
"He wouldn't let Kingford replace you on the stand,
Hal, he was that suspicious."
"Why not?"
"Kingford didn't have an alibi." Maxie gave them
a quick summary of Burke's questions before they
were brought into the office.
"Why didn't Burke follow up on Kingford?" Joan
demanded.
"He may have done it, for all we know," Hal re-
plied.
"He was still asking questions when you were
brought in and that nutty dame began her spiel."
Maxie stopped, embarrassed when he realized he was
talking about Joan's mother so disparagingly.


SUDDEN SILENCE 215
Joan hid a smile. "Go on," she prompted.
"Well, when you all came in, Burke got interested
in you first, then that waiter, Pete Schwartz, and he
seemed to forget about Kingford."
"Why do you suppose Pete Schwartz testified
against you?" Joan asked Hal. "Ever do anything
to him?"
"What do you mean?" Hal retorted. "I never saw
him before last night."
"Then why should he testify the way he did?"
"The cop overheard him," Hal reminded her.
"Sounds fishy to me."
"Sure it's fishy," Maxie agreed. "A man wouldn't
get mixed up in a case like this unless he was crazy,
or couldn't help himself," he added quickly with a
sly look at Joa
"What are you driving at, Joan?" Hal demanded.
"I actually don't know. There's something behind
all this, if we can just put our finger on it. Kingford
didn't have an alibi. Schwartz testified. That's two
things. And how was the murder committed?"
"I thought you knew," he said with a reminiscent
pat on his leg.
"The murderer didn't use an old stick he found
under there! He couldn't. He had to have some-
thing that would hold the knife firmly. I know that's
how it was done but I can't see how they did it."


218 SUDDEN SILENCE
Begin where Farr left off. See if he saw anyone else
at the apartment last night. He may have seen Mrs.
Dufrane try to leave the building. I don't believe
she was shot in the apartment. He may have seen
her go out." They seemed skeptical. "It's worth a
try, isn't it?" she demanded. "Wouldn't you like to
prove that Mrs. Dufrane was alive when that wild
man husband of hers was here?"
They admitted that it was worth trying.
"When you get this information, see Kingford.
Feel him out. Burke may have worked on him last
night. We don't know. If he did, there's nothing
more we can do, but if Burke slipped up on Kingford
then it's up to us to do something."
"And what will you be doing with Farr?" Hal
asked.
"I'm going to get him to locate Pete Schwartz for
me." She pushed her hands down the sides of the
upholstery as she beamed at them.
While Hal and Maxie argued against her plan, she
drew a little memorandum book from the chair. It
was the chair Mary had been sitting in when Burke
arrived. "Say," she exclaimed, "we forgot about this
junk!" She opened the book and ran through the
pages quickly. She stopped.
"What is it?" Hal asked.
"Martin owed Kelton a lot of money. What sort
of a place does Kelton run?"


SUDDEN SILENCE 219
"Gambling, I suppose," Hal replied.
She poked the book back into the chair. "Farr
will tell me."
"That stuff in the chair, don't you think we ought
to look it over?" Hal suggested.
"There isn't time. We've work to do."
"I still don't want to work with Farr," Hal ob-
jected.
"He's just the man I need,"t she went on, ignoring
his objections. "And I'm going to get him." Filled
with determination she crossed to the telephone.
"Don't you worry about him," she flung back over
her shoulder as she reached for the receiver. "When
I go to work on a man ..."
"He's done for," Maxie finished with just a taint
of vinegar in his voice.
"Right," she agreed pertly. She asked the operator
to get her the Crescent office. There was a delay
after she asked for Farr. When he was put on the
wire she asked, "Will you be in your office for the
next fifteen minutes?" She waited for a moment then
said, "Well, if you want to know something new
about the affair at the Gardens, wait for me." She
hung up and turned to the boys saying, "That'll hold
him. He's as curious as an old woman right now.
I'll meet you back here. I won't be long."
Hal intercepted her at the door exclaiming, "You're
taking a chance with Farr. I don't approve of it."


220 SUDDEN SILENCE
"You'd do anything to get Mary free, wouldn't
you?" she demanded.
"Yes," he answered fervently.
"Then trust me. If we can't work with Burke,
we've got to work alone. We've got to be tough or
we won't get a thing. Farr knows all the answers.
I'll have him all wrapped for you when I return. Do
your job! Don't worry!"


>
XIV
When joan arrived
at the Crescent office, she went directly to the city
room and asked for Jimmie Farr. He was completely
surprised to see her, and his amazement increased
when she said, "Get your hat, newsbag. You're tak-
ing me to lunch."
"Not so fast," he managed to say glibly. "This in-
vitation has all the earmarks of being a 'ride.'"
"I wish it were," Joan answered promptly. "I'd
like to see you burning in oil."
"Nice girl. Finishing-schools do good jobs these
days."
"Are you coming?" Joan demanded.
"Sorry, but I have a date."
"And I'm it. I telephoned you a few minutes ago.
I wanted to make you curious. Come along," she
said brusquely, starting for the door.
Jimmie hesitated for a moment. "You mean that
you . . ."
Joan did not stop.
Jimmie hesitated no longer. He leaped the office
221


222 SUDDEN SILENCE
rail and made the door in time to open it for her.
"What's it all about?"
"After lunch," she replied over her shoulder as
her heels clicked against the cement floor.
Jimmie trailed behind her, asking numerous ques-
tions which she refused to answer. "Why don't you
give me some idea?" he finally begged.
"Because I'm hungry. I didn't eat much of my
wedding breakfast worrying about you," she accused.
"There's a pretty good place across the street," he
said, giving up at last and falling into step beside her.
In the nearby restaurant, Jimmie was too curious
to eat. He toyed with his food as he bombarded
Joan with questions, to which she paid absolutely no
attention. "Have a heart, won't you?" he begged.
"I have, but at the moment I happen to be busy."
Jimmie tried to be patient. When Joan finished
the last of her dessert, he said, "Now, tell me."
"Give me a cigarette first," she replied. She took
several puffs and gazed about the room. She caught
the waiter's eye and asked for more coffee.
"Did anyone ever tell you that you can be most
aggravating?"
"Yes. I've been called cagey, too," she added.
"And what do you mean by that?"
"I'm a good judge of human nature, so they say. I
wasn't hungry, but I did need an excuse for watching


224 SUDDEN SILENCE
"Sure I do—on the face of the evidence," he quali-
fied quickly.
"That's all I wanted to know." She stood up and
turned from the table with an air of finality.
She knew that men are just as curious as women,
perhaps more so. She also knew that Jimmie had
swallowed her bait completely. She wanted to play
him a little longer before she gave him her confi-
dence. If he could be convinced that she had a new
angle on the case, she felt positive that he could help
them get Mary out of jail. She was determined to
make him agree to her terms before she told him a
single thing.
"Not so fast," Jimmie cried. "Don't you know
that ninety-nine times out of a hundred circumstan-
tial evidence is true?"
"The exception proves the rule, always," she re-
plied.
"But . . ."
"There's really no point in our talking any longer.
You wouldn't have your heart in it. We'd never
agree. I want a man who believes Mary Dale is in-
nocent."
"If you say she's innocent, I'll believe you," he
promised extravagantly.
"No. You see, I don't really trust you. I'm sorry
to have taken your time."


SUDDEN SILENCE 225
"What do you mean you can't trust me?" he
bristled.
"My mother trusted you and look what you did
to us," she reminded him. Joan had a flash of in-
spiration. "I don't mean all this Burke business
either. Because of your enthusiasm, I was very nearly
killed this morning."
"Quit kidding," he scoffed.
"There's a bullet hole to prove I'm telling the
truth." She stopped suddenly, giving him the im-
pression that she was sorry to have said so much.
"Tell me about it."
"No. You were told one story in confidence."
"You'd have done the same thing if you were a
reporter," he defended. "Listen, Miss Paxton. News
is all in the day's work for me."
"I know. Honor and decency can go overboard as
long as you get your story," she retorted. "That's
why I'm saying no more. I've said too much already.
I suppose it's useless to ask you to forget our con-
versation."
"I didn't even hear you. How's that? I know how
you must feel, but you ought to remember that re-
porting is my method of making a living."
When he started making excuses for himself, Joan
felt that he was finally hooked.
"Look," he went on. "The Crescent's been out
front on every break of this story. I want to keep


226 SUDDEN SILENCE
it there. It means a lot to me. Maybe I have been
a mug but . . ."
"You're willing to go right on being a mug as long
as your paper keeps ahead of the others. I know all
about it."
"You don't. Unless you're kidding me, you're on
to something that no one else knows. You ain't
kidding, are you?"
"I could think of more entertaining things to do,"
she answered.
"I'd like to be the one to crack this case," he said
wistfully.
"That's one of the reasons I came to see you. I
knew that."
"It would mean a raise in salary and . . ."
"You could marry the little woman who is waiting
for you. You'd settle down in Mill Valley, I sup-
pose," she suggested with an unbelieving grin.
"It's on the level about getting married," he re-
plied. "How did you know?"
"Because you were so wistful about that raise."
"Give me the break, will you?"
After a long moment of consideration she said, "I'll
take a chance! But you must promise to curb that
instinct of yours to tell all until we have the facts.
No jumping at conclusions. You are to print nothing
until I tell you to go ahead. Is that a bargain?"


SUDDEN SILENCE 227
"It is," he agreed and offered her his hand to
bind it.
As Joan dropped his hand she said, "I'm going to
trust you, but I want to warn you here and now.
If you don't keep your word, I'll make a monkey
out of you."
"I believe you would," he answered with an un-
derstanding twinkle in his eye. "Now tell me what
you know."
"I have no definite facts, yet."
"But you said . . ."
"I said if you wanted to know something more
about the affair at the Gardens, didn't I?" she de-
manded.
"Yeah. What about that bullet hole you men-
tioned? Who shot at you?"
"That will come later. We've other work to do
first."
"What?"
"Get some information about a man, a waiter.
Peter Schwartz, the man who works at the Gardens."
"Why?"
Joan explained the details of Schwartz' testimony.
"Fishy," Jimmie replied.
"That's what I thought."
"Wait a minute. I'll call Burke," Jimmie said as
he took Joan's arm and steered her toward the
cashier.


228 SUDDEN SILENCE
"I don't want Burke in on this yet," she objected.
"Neither do I, but I can get some dope from him."
With a nickel in his hand he moved to a telephone
booth. "You can listen," he said.
Burke was not at the station. Jimmie tried several
places and finally, at Joan's suggestion, called the
Gardens. After a long wait, Burke came to the tele-
phone. After some preliminary conversation Jimmie
asked, "Did you know that Kelton operated his num-
bers racket at the Gardens?" There were long pauses
interspersed with meaningless remarks from Jimmie.
"Is he there?" Jimmie asked. "Why not ask him?
. . . It's just an idea. . . . You can never tell. . . .
I thought you might like to know that. . . . Oh, you
knew it. . . . Then why didn't you say so in the
first place? . . . Anything new? . . . Oh, he did?
. . . No. Not until I hear from you." He hung up.
"Burke's sore about something," he said as he led
her from the restaurant and called a cab.
"What about?"
"He didn't say." Settled in the cab he asked,
"What made you suspicious of Schwartz?"
"Desperation," she replied honestly. "His testi-
mony seemed to be useless. How do we locate
Schwartz?"
The cab drew up in front of the city hall. "Right
here," Jimmie replied. "All waiters are registered
by the Board of Health. We can get his address


230 SUDDEN SILENCE
"Nice place you've got here," Jimmie said, looking
around. "Must take all your tips to keep it going."
"It does," Schwartz admitted.
"What's your racket?" Jimmie asked.
"I've got no racket," Schwartz denied sourly.
"Come on, Schwartz. A waiter can't live like this.
We want to get some information about the killing
out at the Gardens last night. Better come clean or
I'll write you up."
"I don't know anything about the killing."
"You said you saw the knife in Harrison's hand,"
Joan cut in. "Why did you say that?"
Schwartz hesitated, looking from one to the other.
Finally he said, "Well, I did."
"Now, that's very strange," Jimmie said. "Because
Burke has arrested Mary Dale charged with the crime.
You'd better get dressed, Schwartz, and go down to
headquarters with us and tell your story all over
again."
"I told Burke," Schwartz replied.
"Better tell him again."
"I'll keep out of it."
"Why didn't you think of that last night at the
Gardens? You weren't told to say that, were you,
Schwartz?"
Schwartz made no answer.
"Come on, Miss Paxton. He doesn't want to talk.


232 SUDDEN SILENCE
night in the dark, Pete, here, sneaked in under the
stand, killed Martin and then told Burke he saw the
knife in Harrison's hand. Oh, boy! Is this going
to wow them when I put it in the paper?"
"And the pieces fit together so nicely," Joan added.
"I didn't kill Martin, you're crazy!" Pete cried,
alarmed at last.
"You can tell that to the cops when you're ex-
plaining how you can afford to live like this."
Jimmie's hand indicated the room and its luxurious
furnishings. "You'll find jail a lot different, or per-
haps you know all about that." He went toward the
door. "Come on, Miss Paxton. We've got the case
cinched."
"Wait!" Schwartz cried. "It ain't true!"
"Tell that to Burke."
"But listen, I didn't work with Martin."
"Then who did-Fields?"
"No. One of the boys maybe, but it wasn't me."
"Don't you know?"
"No."
"Where do you get your money?"
"I can't tell you."
"Burke will make him talk," Jimmie assured Joan.
"Don't get me into this," Schwartz begged. "I was
told to alibi a guy."
"Who?"


SUDDEN SILENCE 235.
from Mrs. Dufrane and when Martin didn't hand
over . . . Curtains."
"That's just swell. All we have to do now is to
prove it," Joan said.


XV
Joan tapped on the
-door of Hal's suite, fully confident that Hal and
Maxie would be waiting for her. There was no
answer. She tried the knob. The door swung open.
"We're a little late," she cried as she surveyed the
disorder facing her. She dashed across the room
toward the chair hoping against hope that she was
wrong and would find the little book tucked in the
upholstery where she had left it. She was full of
despair as she faced Jimmie, her hands empty.
"Schwartz did tell," she moaned.
"Nope. There wasn't time," Jimmie insisted.
"Then why this?"
"Kelton probably heard you had papers here and
sent someone over to have a look. Where's Harri-
son?"
"Checking on Kingford and the probable time of
Mrs. Dufrane's death."
"Not a bad idea," Jimmie said as he roamed about
replacing sofa cushions and other things which had
been scattered by the person who had searched the
room. "So that's the bullet hole," he remarked as
236


238 SUDDEN SILENCE
were too many ideas milling about in her head. If
Jimmie was right about Schwartz, how had Kelton
known about the papers found in Phil's apartment?
How did he know that Burke had missed some of
the papers? Where was Hal? Why didn't he return
or call her? What was taking so long?
She slid from the bed and called his room. There
was no answer. Restless and uneasy she wandered
about the room. She paused before her mirror and
made a long critical study of her face. Mary had
said that Hal loved her. How did Mary know? Per-
haps she could tell because she herself was in love
with him. Poor Mary! They must get her out of
jail. Why hadn't she told them about her trip to
Martin's apartment the night before? Why had she
returned to town with Mrs. Dufrane? Unless they
could definitely prove that someone else had killed
Mrs. Dufrane, Joan knew they'd never be able to get
Mary released. What would Hal do? Would he
go on to New York and leave Mary alone to fight
her battle? Why didn't he come back, anyhow?
She decided she looked a sight. She ran the comb
through her hair and winced as the teeth came in
contact with the spot which was still tender from
the bang she had given her head under the band-
stand.
At three-thirty, Mrs. Paxton arrived. She was in
a complaining mood. "Well," she began with a


240 SUDDEN SILENCE
Joan interrupted. "This is nineteen thirty-seven
and people's ideas have changed."
"I suppose so. Why don't we go for a walk and
see the city?"
"I don't want to see the city."
"But, darling, they say the shops are adorable.
Let's go window-shopping."
"I don't want to go window-shopping. Why don't
you go alone, Mother? You'd love it."
"Well, I did want to go to Gump's and China-
town. Do you suppose it's safe for me to go to
Chinatown? You know one hears such things."
"Of course it's safe. Take a cab and if you go
into shops have the cab wait if you feel uneasy."
"They say they have the loveliest Chinese things.
I do love Oriental art, you know. I suppose it's
Teally the pagan in me. You won't be lonesome,
will you dear, if I go?" she asked as she bent forward
to leave a pecking kiss on Joan's brow. "You look
positively haggard. Why don't you rest?" she sug-
gested.
"I will." Joan promised but the moment she was
alone she dressed and went to Hal's suite to wait.
She went to the piano and began playing softly.
Perhaps because the murder and its complications
were uppermost in her mind she unthinkingly drifted
into the melody of "Goodbye Forever." She was


SUDDEN SILENCE 241
crooning softly, when a voice at her elbow startled
her.
"You don't want a job, do you?" Hal asked with
an appreciative smile.
Dave Fields and Maxie stood just behind him.
"Where have you been?" she demanded, ending
the song with a crashing chord.
"Doing the things you told me to do. Why?"
"You've been gone so long. I couldn't imagine
what was keeping you. Any luck?"
"Blanks all along the line. Kingford was as tight
as a tick when we arrived at his apartment. It took
a long time to get a story out of him. Burke put
him through the wringer last night and squeezed
him dry. He had been drinking to drown his sor-
rows he said."
"How about that elevator boy?"
"He didn't see her after she entered the apartment
until Jimmie found the body this morning. What
luck did you have?"
Joan related her adventures quickly and ended,
"But I guess we were too late."
"So was Kelton if he was here," Hal grinned.
"What do you mean?"
"After you left we decided we'd better take the
papers with us. I have them in my pocket."
"Be careful, Hal!" Dave warned. "You can't fool
with Kelton. I know."


242 SUDDEN SILENCE
"Kelton doesn't know anything about the papers,"
Hal replied.
"Haven't you looked at them?" Fields asked.
"Only the book. We haven't had time. They'll
keep until later. Now that we know what Kelton
wants."
"Better let me have them," Fields suggested. "I'll
put 'em in the safe for you."
"They're safe enough," Hal replied with a tap at
his breast pocket to make sure they were still there.
"Well, I'll see you later," Fields promised. "I've
got work toMo. We're gonna have a big crowd again
tonight. Be early."
He left just as the telephone started to ring. It
was Jimmie Farr, who told Joan that he was in
Burke's office and Burke would do nothing about
Kelton because they had no proof.
"But we have!" Joan cried. "We have the book!
Bring Burke over at once, please." As she turned
from the telephone she cried, "We'll have some ac-
tion at last."
"Then I won't have to offer you that job," Hal
said.
"What job?"
"The one I offered you when I came in. You
didn't pay any attention to me."
"I thought you were joking."
"I wasn't. I thought you might take Mary's place


SUDDEN SILENCE 247
who were loaded down with packages and boxes of
all sizes and shapes.
"Darling, I bought the loveliest things," she gushed
as the boys deposited the bundles on the bed. "You
must see them! Look," she squealed with delight
as she lifted a jangling litter of silver chain and
gadgets from a box and began a demonstration.
"This is a toilet set. Isn't it darling?" She fingered
one of the gadgets. "This is a toothpick! And what
do you suppose this is?" she asked exhibiting a tiny
silver article suspended from a chain. "An ear-
spoon! Isn't that just too quaint? The man said
they carried them around in their belts. It was
only twenty dollars. Wasn't that a bargain. And
this . . ."
A tap on the door interrupted her. It was Maxie,
inviting them in for a cocktail before dinner.
"Of course, of course," Mrs. Paxton accepted im-
mediately. "It's just what I need after a shopping
trip." She fluttered an explanatory hand toward the
bed. "It's so tiring, you know."
"So I've heard," Maxie answered sourly. With a
nod, he backed out of the door.
As she powdered her face, Mrs. Paxton said, "It's
so nice of him to ask us."
"It is, after the things you've said and done," Joan
reminded her.
"Perhaps I was wrong." Mrs. Paxton swung round


248 SUDDEN SILENCE
to face Joan, scattering a thin cloud of powder from
the puff. "But you must remember I did what any
mother would do. After all, we're Paxtons. We
must be careful. Isn't it odd? It took a little thing
like a murder to bring us together! You know your-
self he wouldn't even speak to us for the first three
thousand miles! I always say you never know!
He'll be glad to play for the Benefit now, don't you
think?"
"I wouldn't ask him again if I were you," Joan
advised.
"But darling! He can't refuse now." She gave
Joan a quizzical glance. "Just think how envious
those women will be! Not only about his playing
for the Benefit, but the murder and all. Why, we
were right in at the killing, weren't we?"
"Yes, Mother," Joan answered patiently. "Come
along."
As they went down the hall, Mrs. Paxton bubbled.
"We must go to the Gardens tonight. They do say
the murderer always returns to the scene of the crime.
Now, wouldn't it be thrilling if we . . . But she
can't come back, can she? She's in jail."
"She didn't kill him," Joan answered in a savage
whisper as.she tapped on the door prior to open-
ing it.
The room was littered with members of the or-
chestra. They jumped to their feet as the two women


SUDDEN SILENCE 249
entered. Hal, followed by Maxie bearing a tray,
stepped forward.
"I was just saying to Joan," Mrs. Paxton gushed,
"that ..."
Maxie thrust a glass into her hand and said hur-
riedly, "Take this, Mrs. Paxton. You said you
needed a drink."
Hal hooked his arm through Joan's and moved
toward the window.
Mrs. Paxton returned her empty glass.
"Have another," Maxie invited.
Mrs. Paxton beamed. "Do you feel the way I
do? It seems to me that .since repeal the drinks are
very weak. You really need four or five before you
begin to glow. I always say there's nothing like a
glow."
"That's right," Maxie agreed and signaled a waiter
to advance with the tray.
"Oh, how perfectly scrumptious!" She took two
caviar canapes, ate one and waved the other at Maxie
as she burbled on. "I always say the hors d'ceuvres
are a meal in themselves."
"That's right," Maxie agreed. "Don't forget your
glow," he reminded her, producing the third drink.
At the window Joan sipped her drink and gazed
down on the city.
"There it is," Hal said. "The romantic city of
the West. It's like fairyland, isn't it?"


250 SUDDEN SILENCE
"The ferries look like fireflies, darting across the
bay," Joan said.
"The bridges are fairy lanes of jeweled lights lead-
ing one to glamour and romance." He moved closer
to her.
"Where was the Barbary Coast?" Joan asked.
"Down there," he pointed vaguely. "Behind us
somewhere is the Golden Gate. I wanted to see it
all," he sighed regretfully.
"You'll have to come back some day," she sug-
gested.
"With you?" he asked.
"Perhaps. If you don't play for . .
"Don't say it," he laughed.
A rolling giggle echoed over their shoulders. "We
must get dressed," Joan said, turning back into the
room.
Mrs. Paxton was having a gorgeous time laughing,
sipping, chewing, giggling.
Joan advanced. "We must dress for dinner,
Mother. It's getting late."
Mrs. Paxton stifled the first of a series of hiccoughs.
"All right, darling, all right. Hie. Don't rush
Mother. This is the first good time I've had—hie-
since we left New York. We don't have to dress-
hie—do we?" She put a hand on Maxie's arm.
"Why not?" he asked uncomfortably.


SUDDEN SILENCE 251
"See? We'll all have dinner together, won't we,
Mr. Maxie? Wouldn't it be—hic—jolly?"
Maxie winced. "It certainly would," he replied
and then, alarmed at the way she beamed at him, he
added hurriedly, "But not tonight. We couldn't
under the circumstances, you know."
"It's just like living in a birdoge, isn't it?" she
giggled.
"Please, Mother!" Joan urged her toward the
door, where Mrs. Paxton paused and waved good-by
before she was eased into the hall.
"Joan!" Hal called. "Just a minute."
"Go ahead. I'll be with you in a minute," Joan
promised her mother.
Mrs. Paxton waved good-by again and twittered
down the hall. When she had closed her door behind
her, Hal asked, "Why did you run away from me
just now?"
"Why not?"
He took her left hand, held it thoughtfully in his
for a moment, and said, "Look, Joan, . . ."
She withdrew her hand slowly and shook her head
mockingly. "Don't tell me you want to make an
honest woman out of me!" she teased.
"I'm not kidding," he answered quietly. "I mean
it. Some things are hard to say."
Behind them the telephone shrilled insistently.


SUDDEN SILENCE 253
She turned and pulled her arm from his grasp.
"I've heard enough," she said.
"But, Joan," he cried following her, "you're going
to marry me, aren't you?"
"What for . . . your public or your contract?"
She stifled a sob and fled down the hall, with Hal in
hot pursuit. She slammed the door in his face. He
pounded frantically, calling, "Joan! Joan! You've
got to listen to me!"
"If you don't go away from this door I'll call the
manager!" she warned.
"But, Joan, . . ."
With an ear pressed close to the panel she listened
but refused to answer. Her heart fluttered. The
pounding ceased. Had he taken her at her word?
Why didn't he break the door down? Was he giving
up so easily? If he really cared, if he were truly in
love with her it would take more than a door to keep
him away. Through the door she heard a sigh.
Then silence while she waited.
He really had taken her at her word. He had gone
away. A fine Lochinvar he had turned out to be.
She had been a fool, anyhow. Why should she think
that he had fallen in love with her just because she
was in love with him? Mary had warned her. He
was a public figure. He thought of his career first,
last and always. Perhaps he did like her. Or did he?


SUDDEN SILENCE 255
"Just be calm, darling. Anger eats up the vital
forces. It doesn't pay." She took a piece of tissue and
wiped cream from her face. "What are you doing?"
Mrs. Paxton demanded.
"Getting some things ready for Mary."
"But, darling! Don't you think she'd rather have
her own things?"
"I suppose so. Did you buy anything that would
make a nice present?"
"They're all presents." With a finger pressed to
her temple, Mrs. Paxton surveyed the litter of her
purchases. She moved to the bed. "Now let me
think. There's the dearest little creamer and sugar.
No, that wouldn't do, would it? How about a sandal-
wood fan? No." She fingered the pile. "I know,
these silk pajamas. Every woman in the jail will be
envious of these." She held them up in front of her.
"They're just the thing. I'm so glad I . . ."
"Thanks," Joan said shortly, snatching at the gar-
ment.
"My, but you are in a temper! Is it . . .?"
"It is! I don't want to talk about him. Now or
ever! I'm going over to the jail to see Mary."
"But the Gardens! I thought you said . . ."
"Oh, I'm going." Joan flung the gay pajamas over
her arm and opened the door. "I'm going down to
get Mary's things. I'll see you later."


SUDDEN SILENCE 257
pecting me. It's all fixed." She turned on her heels
and left him standing there.
"Joan," he called and ran to the door.
She refused to answer or look back.


XVI
Hal was in a fog of
gloom when he left the hotel. He was so preoccupied
that he forgot all about his prop smile and profes-
sional manner. He hurried into a cab and gloomed
all the way to the jail.
What could a man do with a girl like Joan? Why
couldn't she be reasonable, or were all women like
that? Didn't she know that he wouldn't think of
leaving San Francisco until Mary was freed from the
accusation which hung over her? What did he care
about Higgins or his contract? He could get plenty
of work. Why did things have to come in bunches
anyhow? Why did he have to fall in love at a time
like this when he had so many other things on his
mind?
At the jail he tried to brighten up when Mary was
brought in under the watchful eye of a middle-aged
person.
"It was sweet of you to think of these," Mary ex-
claimed as she opened the bag.
"I'll have to look them over," the matron said,
stepping forward.
258


SUDDEN SILENCE 259
"It was Joan's idea, the things," he said.
"She's sweet, Hal. You're lucky," Mary said as the
matron lifted the items out one by one. "Oh! What
gorgeous pajamas!" she cried and reached for them,
caressing the silk lovingly. "Where did you get
them?"
"Joan."
"Wasn't that nice of her! She's so considerate."
"Not of me," he answered.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," he denied weakly.
"There is! Tell me."
"I didn't come here to burden you with my
troubles. You've enough of your own."
"They can't keep me here," she replied bravely.
"Burke will soon realize that he made a mistake.
Tell me what has happened."
Briefly he told her about the clues they had tried
to unearth and run down. "We thought we might
pin it on Dufrane," he said, "but according to the
medical examiner she had been dead for a long time.
As a matter of fact, she must have been killed soon
after you followed her there."
"Then that doesn't make it look so good, does it?"
she said.
"No. To be perfectly frank with you, it doesn't.
We're pinning our last hope on Kelton now."
"And if that fails?" she asked hesitantly.


SUDDEN SILENCE 261
"You gave up too easily. You should have smashed
the door down, done anything but go away."
"But she said . . ."
"Of course she did, but she didn't want you to
believe her. When a girl is in love she wants to be
possessed. She wants her knight to come riding,
overcoming all obstacles in his way. She wants to
be lifted up and carried off even if it is against her
better judgment."
"How can you do that when she won't listen to
you. She ran away!"
"You've got legs, too, haven't you? Run after her.
Make her listen. She wants to listen, Hal."
Hal's face softened. "You mean I should have
been more aggressive?"
"Since she had some cause for her resentment, yes.
Your giving up so quickly would make her doubt of
you justified."
"Gosh, I never thought of that! Doubt is a terrible
thing, isn't it?"
"While we're on the subject," Mary said quietly,
"I have a confession to make."
The matron leaned forward alert.
"What about?"
"That telegram you received in Portland. I re-
ceived a wire from Phil in which he advised me to keep
you away from San Francisco. I typed that message


262 SUDDEN SILENCE
and gave the boy a dollar to deliver it to you. I'm
sorry; I shouldn't have done it."
"It's okay, Mary. It's nice to know that there isn't
anybody gunning for me. Forget it."
The matron straightened up, disappointed. She
checked the wall clock with her wrist-watch. "Your
time's up," she warned.
"I had to tell you," Mary said.
"Forget it. We'll have you out of here in the
morning," he promised.
"See Joan. She must be very unhappy."
"You bet I will. Thanks for the good advice." He
watched as the matron led her through the door.
In the lobby of the building he spied a telephone
booth. He called the hotel and asked for Joan.
When she answered, he said, "This is Hal. You're
having dinner with me and I won't take No for an
answer." There was some spluttering reply but he
did not wait to listen, he banged the receiver on the
hook and dashed out of the building and into a wait-
ing cab. A black car followed.
He looked at his watch. It was a few minutes
after seven. "I'm going to be late at the Gardens,"
he said to himself, "but I don't care."
At the hotel he dashed into the lobby and down
the hall to the elevators.
The black car which had been following him con-


SUDDEN SILENCE 263
tinued past the entrance and paiked in a vacant spot
near the alley.
When Hal reached his floor and swung down the
corridor, Joan and her mother were just leaving
their suite.
"Didn't I tell you to wait for me?" he demanded,
dashing up to them.
"I do as I please, not as I'm told," Joan retorted.
"Then things will be different from now on," he
replied, wondering just what he would do and how
he would manage things. Mrs. Paxton definitely was
not in his plan.
"My daughter is through with you," Mrs. Paxton
said haughtily.
Just then the door of the service elevator opened
and a waiter trundled a dinner cart and some pro-
visions into the corridor.
"Hold it," Hal called to the operator, who stuck
his head into the hall to see who it was who had
spoken to him. Hal bent over, scooped a surprised
Joan into his arms and started for the elevator.
"Young man! Put her down at once. At once!
Do you hear me?" Mrs. Paxton shrilled.
"Oh, go sit on a tack," Hal yelled back as he
stepped into the lift. "Down, and make it in a
hurry," he called to the startled operator. "There's
a five in it for you."


SUDDEN SILENCE 265
of the opposite door when he caught her foot and
said, "No, you don't."
The car slid away from the curb. Joan turned her
back to him.
"You're going to listen to me now," he said. "I
love you and I'm going to marry you." He leaned
forward and tapped on the glass, "Take us to the
nearest airport," he ordered the driver. "You have
to wait in California," he said. "We'll go to Yuma
where they marry you first and ask questions after-
ward."
"You won't marry me in Yuma or anywhere else,"
she said.
"Unless you're blind to reason, I will," he insisted.
"I've been waiting for you for years. I love you.
Didn't I tell you so?"
"No," she denied. "You never said a word about
love."
"Didn't I tell you we were going to be married
this morning? Didn't I?" he demanded.
"That had nothing to do with love."
"Didn't I ask you again tonight just before
Maxie . . ."
"Spilled the beans," she reminded him.
"Well, I did, didn't I?"
"You never told me you loved me. Do you think
I'm a mind-reader? You never said it until a minute
ago after you nearly broke my foot yanking me back


266 SUDDEN SILENCE
into the car. If you think this is the way to convince
a girl that you love her, you're sadly mistaken."
"If this won't convince you, I give up," he cried
in desperation. "I love you, I love you, I love you.
There, have I said it enough?"
"Say it again," she said impishly as she turned
toward him. "I like to hear it."
He took one long look at her before he folded her
into hi^ arms tenderly. "I love you," he whispered
in her ear.
The car swerved and bumped over a bad road but
they were not conscious of it for several minutes. It
was Joan who became practical. "We can't go to
Yuma. You've got to play tonight."
"The hell with contracts," he laughed.
"Your career comes first," she replied. "We're
going to the Gardens." She leaned forward to tap
on the window and called to the driver, "We've
changed our minds. We don't want to go to the air-
port, after all. Take us to the Gardens."
They were traveling a murky smelly water-front
road out on the meadows.
"That's the Gardens over there," Hal said, point-
ing across the meadow.
They crossed a bridge over a creek and then
turned into a narrow road. The car lurched to one
side.


268 SUDDEN SILENCE
lights retraced its way to the main highway. They
stopped at the bridge and lifted Joan out.
"She might roll into the creek," the companion
said.
"If she does, she won't be able to tell them any-
thing. Come on, let's get out of here."
"Boy, was that a snap! Fell right into our laps,
didn't they? I thought we might have to kill a cab
driver or something," the companion said as he
climbed in beside the driver and with lights on they
went back toward the city.


XVII
A POLICE CAR WITH
siren open speeded along Third Street away from
the city.
"Why would a guy wanna kidnap a dame and take
her to a place like the Gardens?" a policeman asked
his companion who was driving. "It don't make
sense."
"How do I know why guys wanna do the things
they do? Why did that dame murder the guy out
there last night? That didn't make sense either, did
it? Would you bump a man off in front of five or
six thousand people?"
"No."
"Neither would I. It don't make sense, but the
guy was killed and they got the dame in the cooler."
"There's something on the bridge," the companion
cried.
"Then let it get out of the way. Maybe it's some-
body fishing." With a hand on his siren button he
tore toward the bridge.
"Take it easy," the companion warned. "What-
269


270 SUDDEN SILENCE
ever it is, it's struggling or something. Slow up, will
you?"
Joan was recovering and trying to raise herself to
her elbows. With a grinding shriek of brakes the
police car slid to a stop about a foot from her body.
"It's a dame," the driver cried and bounded from
the car.
"It's the dame we're looking for, I betcha," his
companion cried. He knelt beside Joan and raised
her in his arms. "What's the matter, lady?" he asked.
"Where is he?" she moaned.
"Who do you mean? The guy who hit you?"
"No, Hal. Where is he?"
"What did I tell ya? Hal Harrison. That's his
name. This is the dame, all right. He must have
thrown her out of the car thinking she'd roll into
the creek. The dirty ..."
"No," Joan moaned, "he didn't. He's hurt. We
must find him."
"We'd better get her to a hospital," the driver said.
"She's raving, poor kid."
"I'm not raving," Joan insisted with a slight return
of her spirit. She struggled to get to her feet.
"Your name Paxton?" the driver asked.
"Yes."
"Where's Harrison?"
"That's what I've been trying to tell you." She
rocked unsteadily on her feet.


SUDDEN SILENCE 271
"Take it easy," the policeman advised.
"We can't take it easy. We must find him," Joan
cried frenziedly.
"Where is he?"
Joan told them what had happened.
"Near a shack here, you say?" the driver asked.
She nodded and winced at the pain which shot
through her head.
"There's no shack here," the policeman said.
"Then we must look for it. I remember crossing
a bridge just like this. Then we turned off the road
and ahead of us we could see the Gardens."
"It's the back road leading to the Gardens. The
one the bootleggers used to use before repeal," the
driver cried. "It's just up ahead here. Come onl"
While they were talking on the road, Hal returned
to consciousness in the shack. He made an effort to
sit up. His head was splitting with pain. He was
on a bench. As he struggled to rise, he rolled from
the bench to the floor. He lay there for a few min-
utes unable to move. He called for Joan. The echo-
ing darkness filled him with terror for her. "Joan!"
he cried, struggling to his hands and knees. He
crawled to the door and pulled it open.
Across the meadows the lights of the Gardens spar-
kled through the thin fog which had trickled over
the mountains in the distance. On his hands and
knees he searched the cabin. In despair, he struggled


272 SUDDEN SILENCE
to his feet and took a halting step toward the door
and the beckoning lights. His knees sagged under
him. He clutched at the jamb and by sheer force
of will managed to remain erect. He waited a mo-
ment before taking another step. Halting, stum-
bling, he moved into the road and looked blankly at
the spot where the car had stood.
He called for Joan. The night voices of the marsh
life were the only answer. He turned and trudged
toward the lights of the Gardens. He paused to rest.
Behind him he heard the sound of a horn. Then
lights swung toward him. He stood in the middle
of the road and cried for help as he waved his arms
in the air.
Their reunion was punctuated by matter-of-fact
questions from the police, who first wanted to know
why he had tried to abduct the girl.
"He didn't," Joan denied.
Then the police wanted to know about the car and
the driver.
As they rode toward the Gardens, Hal explained
what had happened.
"It was a dumb thing to do," the policeman re-
marked bluntly. "You played right into their hands.
How much money did you lose?"
"I never carry much," Hal replied.
"My rings are gone," Joan cried, rubbing her hands
together, "and a diamond pin."


SUDDEN SILENCE 281
"We've got to start over again," she replied.
"I must say, I'm disappointed," Mrs. Paxton
chimed in. "I've always heard it said that the mur-
derer returns to the scene of the crime."
"Suppose he never left it?" Joan asked thought-
fully.
"For mercy's sakes!" Mrs. Paxton cried, annoyed.
She swung round and glared at a janitor who was
pressing close to her chair. "What are you doing?"
"Sorry, lady. I gotta catch up on my work. A
lot of bulbs get shorted out." He thrust a pole
toward the ceiling and caught a dead bulb in the
prongs at the end of the stick. With a couple of
twists, the bulb was released. He lowered the pole,
dropped the dead bulb into a bag, inserted a fresh
one and attached it to its socket in the ceiling. The
operation finished, he moved down the aisle.
"That," cried Joan, "is the answer to how it was
done! Get that man back here!"
Jimmie, his eyes alive with interest, bounded from
the table, overthrew his chair and collided with a
waiter as he went in pursuit of the pole-bearing
janitor.
"I've got my work to do," the man was protesting
as Jimmie dragged him back.
"It'll take but a minute. I want to see the end
of that pole," Joan said sweetly.
Reluctantly the man lowered the pole for Joan's


SUDDEN SILENCE 283
"I know what happened to it," he replied with
an air of importance.
"Do you? What?" Jimmie asked quickly.
"It was put on the rubbish heap and burned. I
found the end of it there this morning."
"Now who would do a thing like that?" Joan asked
quizzically.
"I dunno. Somebody was jealous of my job,
likely," he answered. "Mr. Fields is very particular
about keeping the place in order and he's a crank
about the lights. If he sees one has burned out
before I do he lets me know about it, he does. 'Are
you slipping, Al?' he'll say. He's a great one for
asking questions, he is."
"It was a mean trick stealing your pole," Joan
sympathized. "Don't you have a regular place where
you keep it?"
"Sure I do. I keep it locked up in my broom
closet and I'd have sworn I locked it up last night,
but I can't be sure because we were very busy with
the crowds pouring in on us and all. I had a lot of
extra work to do," he voluntered, becoming more
voluble as he sensed his importance to the little
group who were so interested in him and his work.
"Perhaps you left it somewhere," Jimmie sug-
gested. "That's an easy thing to do, particularly if
you're very busy."
"Now, that's one thing I don't do," he boasted.


SUDDEN SILENCE 285
table. "The trio is going to sing next," he cried.
"Hal wants to know if you've changed your mind."
"Joan, you're not going to sing!" Mrs. Paxton cried.
"Of course I am." Joan stood up. "Keep your
fingers crossed and keep going," she said to Jimmie.
"We're getting hot."
"Such language," Mrs. Paxton shrilled. "I can't
understand you. You've changed so. It's that man!"
"The girls are waiting for you in the musicians'
room," Maxie said to Joan. As she passed him he
whispered, "Try and cheer Hal up a bit, will you?"
"I'll have great news for him," she promised. "Get
Burke. I want to see him as soon as the song is
ended," she told Maxie.
"What's up?"
"A couple of ideas."
"Can't you tell me?" he asked.
"Not yet. I've got to think, remember back, and
fit pieces together."
"Are you going to do that while you're singing?"
he teased.
She shrugged and turned away.
"It's dull here," Mrs. Paxton complained to Maxie,
who had become interested in Jimmie and the janitor.
"Huh?"
"I said it's dull here after last night," she repeated.
"Seems lively enough to me," he replied. "You
don't want another murder, do you?"


286 SUDDEN SILENCE
"Anything but this boredoml No one pays any
attention to me. Joan doesn't obey me. No one asks
me to dance," she whined.
Maxie sensed what was coming and tried to get
away, but Mrs. Paxton was too quick for him. "Mr.
Maxie!" she cried. "Dance with me!"
He began a refusal but he didn't have a chance.
"Now, don't tell me you're busy. All work and
no play, you know!" She rose and took hold of his
arm. "We'll leave Mr. Farr to play with his fishing-
pole," she said contemptuously as she tugged Maxie
floorward.
"You said something," Jimmie muttered after her.
"Fishing is right." He returned his attention to Al,
the janitor.


XVIII
Mrs. paxton was a
"hopper." Maxie was a "foot-dragger." The com-
bination of their particular types of dancing produced
a weird effect. As they swung, gyrated and bobbed
along the floor toward Hal, he could think of only
one thing to describe their progress. Mrs. Paxton
looked like an ambitious little tugboat towing an
unwieldy barge through turbulent waters.
As they neared the stand Maxie called to Hal, "It's
okay. She's gonna sing."
With a nod of understanding Hal ended the num-
ber. When the applause had died down he an-
nounced: "There will be a short intermission. After
that we have a surprise for you. Miss Joan Paxton,
of New York, will take the place of Miss Mary Dale
in the trio."
"Just when I was having such a good time," Mrs.
Paxton pouted. "That man has a way of frustrating
me."
"He can't play forever," Maxie said defensively.
"Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could just go
on dancing forever?" she breathed.
S87


288 SUDDEN SILENCE
"Maybe so," he agreed fearfully and steered her
toward her table.
On the stand, Hal was besieged by crowds of auto-
graph seekers who poked albums, cards and menus
up at him to be signed. He wrote automatically.
His prop smile was gone, his professional manner had
vanished. His famous personality was definitely lack-
ing, lost in the maze of his preoccupation.
"That's her," he heard someone in the crowd say.
Hal swung round. Joan and the girls were going
up to the divan to wait for their number. "That's
all," he said and turned from the crowd.
He beckoned to Joan as he moved over to the end
of the platform. She came down from the divan to
meet him. "Are you nervous?" he asked.
"Of course I'm nervous. Who wouldn't be? If I
go sour I expect you to cover me up."
"Okay."
"What's the matter? Does your head hurt?" she
asked anxiously.
"My head's all right. It's what's inside," he re-
plied.
"What are you talking about?"
"You."
"What have I done?"
"Nothing, yet. I've been warned in time. I'm
glad I still have a few friends."
"Why don't you come out with it?"


292 SUDDEN SILENCE
and called, "We've got to go back. Hal says to
hurry."
"Lift me up," Joan asked Burke.
As he lifted her she whispered, "Go to Fields'
office. I'll be there in a few minutes. I'm sure I
know who the murderer is now."
"You what?"
"In a few minutes," she called back and walked
down front with the other girls.
"Sing the whole thing," Hal suggested. "We'll
make it a blue number." He stepped aside, motion-
ing the girls to use his microphone.
Joan took her position in the center of the group,
directly in front of the microphone as Hal stepped
aside. The lights dimmed as Joan started the song
for the third time.
With the three girls so close to him, Scat Miller
felt crowded. He shifted his chair back and to one
side during his rest period after the chorus had
started.
As the girls moaned the last few bars of the song,
Scat cried out in alarm and pain. He slid to the
floor. His stand crashed forward. One of the girls
stifled a scream.
"What is it?" Hal cried, jumping forward to clutch
Joan. "Are you hurt?"
"No. Quick! He's tried it again. Get Miller out
before the lights come up!"


SUDDEN SILENCE 295
"What happened?" Fields dashed up to ask.
"Just a slight accident," Joan replied.
"Another attempt at murder," Hal said.
"NO!" Fields was unbelieving. "Where's Burke?"
"In your office."
"Hadn't we better tell him?" Fields suggested.
"I'm going to tell him, plenty."
Joan darted across the corridor pursued by Hal
and a wondering Fields. From the corner of her eye
Joan saw Maxie and Jimmie hurrying toward them,
with her mother in their wake. Behind Mrs. Paxton
she saw a very tall, overly stout, bewildered young
man trying to follow with his customary dignity.
She smiled tolerantly.
"Have you any men here?" she demanded of Burke
as she burst into the office. "Get the janitor who
fixes the lights in the ceiling. Send someone under
the stand to find, if possible, a long pole with prongs
on the end of it."
The others surged into the office, forcing Burke
back for a moment by their advance. Scat was in a
chair holding his side. As Burke started through
the door Joan called, "And get a doctor."
"What's all this?" Fields demanded. "What's go-
ing on?"
"It's the windup of murder," Joan replied.
"We got it, eh?" Jimmie cried.
"Yes."


296 SUDDEN SILENCE
"Well, I said you can't come in!" Burke snapped
at someone at the door. He slammed it shut with
a vicious bang. "Now," he turned to Joan.
"What have you done now?" Mrs. Paxton de-
manded. "More disgrace? Haven't you done
enough? I was never so mortified in my life!"
"Who's the murderer?" Burke demanded.
"Fields," Joan replied.
Mrs. Paxton withdrew from Fields' side as if she
had been bitten.
"What's the joke?" Fields asked.
"It's no joke, Fields," Joan replied. "If I'm wrong,
you can soon prove it."
"Better be careful," Burke cautioned.
There was a knock on the door. Burke admitted
the doctor, who went to Scat's side at once. Then
the janitor came in, his eye on his precious pole
which a policeman was carrying.
Joan took the pole from the policeman and handed
it to Burke. "This is what the murderer used last
night, or rather one like it. He tried it again tonight,
why, I do not know."
"I can answer that question," Burke said. "Fields,
eh? He was the only person in this place who knew
what you whispered to me when I lifted you back
onto the stand. I told him as we walked away. You
said you had business to attend to, didn't you?"


SUDDEN SILENCE 297
Burke demanded of Fields. "It was murder you
meant."
"Are you going to believe this nit-wit girl who has
done nothing but make a fool of you?" Fields re-
torted.
"Who's a nit-wit?" Hal jumped forward, fists
clenched, forgetting that a short twenty-four hours
before he had given Joan the same title.
"I'll take care of this." Burke stepped between
Hal and Fields.
"Hold your temper!" Maxie cautioned.
Light began to dawn in that spot Mrs. Paxton
called a brain. "You mean to say that he tried to
kill my daughter?" she shrilled.
"Never mind, Mother," Joan silenced her.
"It's an outragel" Fields stormed.
"You're under arrest, Fields. Be quiet!" Burke
barked.
"On a charge like this? Where's your proof?"
Fields cried.
That, of course, was a poser for Burke; he had no
definite proof. He knew that Fields knew that Joan
had promised to name the murderer for him but he
had no facts. He turned toward Joan and said gruffly,
"You made the charge. Back it up."
"Yes. Tell us about it, darling. Don't be shy!
She's so modest," she explained to Burke.
"So's the Venus de Milo," he retorted.


SUDDEN SILENCE 299
"I bought it myself."
"Why?"
"Because when I was leaving last night I asked
Mr. Fields for a new one and he told me not to
bother with the lights for a few days."
"Why did you do that, Fields?" Farr asked.
"I had other things on my mind," Fields grum-
bled.
"Like murder, for instance?"
"But how did you connect the crime with Fields?"
Burke asked Joan.
"You did it for me," she answered.
"I did?" He was puzzled.
"Yes. Your black eye. I had been trying to fit
the pieces together ever since Farr and I realized
that the pole was the implement used. When you
came up to the stand with that black eye of yours,
you gave me the whole answer. Last night when I
went in under the stand I banged my head. Here's
the mark. See it?" She bent forward for him to
see.
"Now, if you'll stand up straight, you'll realize
that the top of my head is on an exact level with
your eye." She moved over and stood directly in
front of him.
"That's right!" Mrs. Paxton cried.
"Now you and Fields are just about the same
height. Stand together."


SUDDEN SILENCE 303
"Is that why you were so interested in the papers
we took from Martin's apartment? Is that why you
told us not to give the balance of them to Burke?
Were you afraid if we turned the papers over to
Burke he would find that agreement between you
and Martin and so have a motive on which to work?"
She turned to Burke. "He's the only person outside
of ourselves who knew that there were papers in
addition to the ones we gave you this morning. Hal
even showed Fields where he was keeping them; in his
inside coat pocket. After I found the memorandum
book and had gone out, Hal discovered the agree-
ment between Martin and Fields."
"Why didn't you give it to me?" Burke asked
sourly. "We'd have had proof then."
"Because you still believed that Mary Dale was
guilty. You would have considered that piece of
paper as evidence against her rather than a motive
for anyone else."
"Yeah, and I heard her admit that she was at
Martin's apartment last night. She followed Mrs.
Dufrane there," Fields cut in.
"Did you see her?" Joan asked quickly.
But Fields was not so easily trapped.
"How could I see her?"
"But you saw Mrs. Dufrane, you killed her because
she surprised you," Joan accused.


304 SUDDEN SILENCE
"How long are you going to let this nonsense go
on?" Fields demanded.
"Until I've had a look in your safe," Burke replied.
He nodded toward one of the men to make a search.
The safe was locked.
"Open it," Burke commanded.
"You haven't got a warrant."
"It's open it, or jail," Burke threatened. "Which
do you prefer?"
"I'll open it, but I'll make you pay for this," Fields
grumbled.
He knelt down before the safe. His fingers fum-
bled as he spun the dials.
"Come on, quit stalling," Burke insisted. "Get it
open."
"I won't do it," Fields cried.
"Then we'll open it. What have you got to hide?
We'll get you sooner or later. You can't escape."
There was a slight distracting commotion at the
door. During that second, Fields' hand went up to
the gun where Burke had placed it on the safe. With
the gun in hand he bounded to his feet. "Don't
move, any of you. Stay right where you are." He
stepped backward, bumping into Mrs. Paxton, who
squealed. "Get out of my way!" Fields growled and
pointed the gun at her.
"Don't shoot, don't shoot!" she cried and col-
lapsed in a heap on the floor. As she went down,