The Domino Lady

by Lars Anderson

  She had danced with many men without responding to their ardor, but, once in a while, she was cognizant of the rising tides within her, indicating that a particular partner was the type who could stir her soul to the depths and arouse the latent passions of her affectionate nature. It was so with Rob Wyatt! Willingly, her soft body clung to him in the measured movements of the dance, as light as the proverbial feather in his arms!

  Abruptly, Rob Wyatt stood stockstill in the middle of the waltz. He held Ellen close, tilted her shining head upward so that his dark gaze penetrated to the very center of her being, as his hungry mouth closed over her hot, crimson lips. Such a kiss it was, something entirely new to the little adventuress, and it filled her with hungry longings as new and untried desires were given birth in her soft body. For a moment, she returned the kiss, forgetful of all else in the ecstasy of the moment. Then, remembering, she was out of his arms, retreating before him.

  “Let’s dance again?” breathed Wyatt, hoarsely, holding out his arms to her. Ellen hesitated a moment. Since he was obviously not wishing to press matters, she decided it best to follow suit. She smiled a brilliant smile, her alert mind working at full speed. It was now five minutes of midnight!

  “I really should powder my nose first,” she replied, pertly.

  “It doesn’t need it, you know,” he demurred.

  “And that’s a fib,” she smiled. “I’ll only be a moment!”

  AS SHE turned to go, there came an interruption, A servant entered the room, bowed unctuously. “The telephone in the den, sir,” he said, “and it is important!”

  Wyatt frowned, but went to answer the summons. With a gay little laugh, and a prayer of thanks for the interruption, Ellen disappeared into the ladies’ dressing room. It was without occupant at the moment, and Ellen crossed to the bed upon which a pile of hats and wraps were laid out. She had no time to lose she reflected grimly, as she stooped and grasped the hem of her dress, drew it hurriedly upward over her shapely body. The brown frock was immediately hidden from view beneath the coverlets of the bed. This left the purposeful little intruder’s body sheathed in a form-fitting evening dress of black crepe which she had worn beneath the high-collared brown one!

  The creation of black, backless and daringly cut in at its décolletage, was the startling costume of the daring Domino Lady!

  A moment later, she was creeping from the dressing room, and crossing the conservatory, but now the white silken cape partially covered the black frock, a black domino mask of shining silk masqueraded her eyes, and a small, black automatic sprouted in her determined right fist! The Domino Lady was on her way to keep her midnight engagement!

  Chapter 3

  ELLEN glided softly along a dim-lit corridor until she reached a massive end-door. The cold butt of the automatic steadied her, brought a grim smile to her lips. She reached out, twisted the knob silently, slowly, cautiously. She pushed the door open the barest fraction of an inch and peered in.

  A moment later, she was switching on the softly shaded lights of the den which Wyatt had quitted a moment before. The flood of illumination revealed a sumptuous, masculine office with a huge desk set well to the rear of the place.

  She wasted no time but hastened across the thick rug to attempt to find what she had come to get. The desk, she found cluttered with documents and scribbled notations. To each piece of paper, no matter how small, Ellen gave hurried attention. But success did not come to her, although she wasted precious moments in vain search.

  As she worked, a grim smile twitched at her curved lips as she imagined her erstwhile host’s reaction when he found the desk tampered with! Then, the smile was erased as her mind went back to the image when her father’s still form had been found in the Keyser Building, riddled with state machine’s bullets!

  And by his own admission, this man Wyatt was ambitious for a position of power in the state; a creature who was sadistically torturing her friend with indiscreet letters although he did not need the demanded blackmail money! With poignant pain, she recalled that her aid was all that would save her friend, at the same time putting a crimp in the murdering state machine, could she but uncover something incriminating in Wyatt’s den.

  The penthouse was strangely silent now. Somewhere near, a clock ticked, reminding Ellen of the great need of speed now that midnight was past! There was one remaining drawer to be opened, and she delved into it with a desperate little prayer for aid. One hand encountered a sheath of papers, and she drew them forth, knowing that the precious letters were not numbered among them!

  Abruptly, breath caught in her throat. Her brown eyes went wide behind the slits in the domino mask! From beneath the pile, one sheet of paper seemed to leap at her like a coiled serpent! It was heavy and official-appearing, and it was covered with notations and figures of a most incriminating nature! Ellen looked at the small packet, exultant.

  This document was a sell-out of state power to Rob Wyatt along with a promised concession to Owens’ Valley water rights! Its meaning was clear. It was a statement of intention, turning over not only a large political slice of the state to Wyatt henchmen, but a veritable empire in precious irrigation rights!

  The full import struck Ellen with the force of a mailed fist, and she was almost surprised by the sudden entrance of Rob Wyatt, now clad in a sleek dressing gown, who closed the massive door behind him!

  Under all circumstances, the big game hunter was a cool customer. Serious but entirely calm, he faced Ellen Patrick across the desk, cognizant of the threatening weapon in her hand, but the expression on his face was not that of a man who anticipates the defeat of his plans. A smile played across his enigmatic features, and he seemed quite pleased with himself.

  “Well, I must compliment you upon keeping our little engagement, Miss Domino Lady!” Wyatt taunted with a laugh. “As well as upon the charming costume you’re wearing! However, I must warn you — no matter how you obtained entrance to this suite — it will require more than that automatic or a melodramatic costume to get you safely out of here! All exits are well-guarded, my dear!”

  ELLEN paled slightly. She had been in tight corners before, but never one the equal of this! She felt rather than saw the dark eyes caressing her sensuous figure as Wyatt advanced a pace in the face of her gun! She moved but slightly backward, held the gun higher.

  “Hold it!” The command, softly-spoken, knifed through the room and brought a halt to the calmly, leisurely advancing man. “All your guards can do you no good, once I’ve let daylight through your heart, Rob Wyatt! And that’s exactly what will happen within the next moment unless you obey my orders!”

  He took a backward step, thinking fast. He knew that the crackle of the small calibre weapon would not be heard outside the door of the den, or upon the fire-escapes. And this grim, purposeful woman who threatened him might be just another tart with a quick trigger finger and no judgment!

  Eyes glowing through the openings in her mask, full lips set in a straight line, a gentle flush on the flower-like cheeks — from the tips of her tiny evening slippers to the very top of her sleek blonde head, she looked like what she was! A determined woman, confident of her own power! She moved forward to face the now-frowning Wyatt.

  He tried to regain his composure. “What’s your game anyway?”

  “Whatever it is, it’s not crooked politics!” she rasped, and enjoyed his look of consternation.

  “Politics?” He stared at her, hard. “What — what do you know about politics?” he demanded.

  She laughed in his face. “Plenty that won’t stand a good airing!” she said, softly, teasingly. “And it all concerns your ambitions, and your guarantees of protection, Wyatt! Am I right so far?”

  He looked at her as though dazed. He was silent, thinking.

  She continued, relentlessly. “I know all the details! And it would delight me to send you to prison where you belong!”

  “So what?” he managed, weakly. There was no real force to the words. The terrible threat
in her words had burned him to the heart, and his face became a desperate mask pierced by narrowed, dark eyes.

  “So what?” she laughed, harshly. “So plenty! I have you right where I want you! I have in my possession all that is necessary to convict you, secure you a nice long stretch in the pen for robbing poor people of their water rights, and conspiring to fix an election!”

  He fairly gasped: “You mean...?”

  “I mean that unless you hand over those letters I called for right now, I’m giving you the works, and leaving here as I entered, with all the incriminating evidence!”

  Wyatt looked at her bleakly. “I should tell you to go...”

  “But you won’t,” she interrupted, quickly. “Because you’re afraid of me! You’re afraid of the evidence I can use against you. Think of it! The big game hunter who was never afraid in his life!”

  He broke in harshly: “Don’t use that ‘big-strong-he-man’ stuff on me! It won’t get you anywhere! I’m not afraid of anything that I don’t have to be. I’m not taking chances, and that’s how I’ve become the biggest shot in town right now! I’m going to give you those letters in return for the documents you’ve stolen from my desk. Of course,” he went on, calmly now, “you won’t get far away before I have you back for house-breaking!”

  “It suits me,” she told him, evenly. “But mark one thing down to be remembered, Wyatt! You’ll never see me again until I call again to secure those documents which will send you where you belong! I’m out to get you from this moment forward, and The Domino Lady never fails to deliver. Don’t forget that!”

  Wyatt grunted, but his smile was egotistical as he walked to a hidden closet in the corner and returned with a slender packet which he placed upon the desk. Ellen quickly secured it, tossed the Wyatt documents to the waiting man. She smiled as she slipped the packet of letters into a tiny pocket inside the white cape. Then, she moved swiftly, spoke harshly.

  “Now, get going!” she rasped, coldly. “Walk to the wall! Face it and place your arms behind you! One false move, and I’ll put daylight through you!”

  Since there was nothing else to do, Rob Wyatt did as directed with the best grace he could muster under the circumstances. He fumed and swore a terrible vengeance as he nosed the wall and placed his hands behind him. But he was totally unprepared for the next move of his visitor.

  Dipping swiftly beneath the cape, Ellen produced a tiny hypodermic syringe which had been previously loaded with a quick-acting drug which, while harmless, would incapacitate the victim for several minutes!

  Noiselessly, she went close behind Wyatt, and her soft laugh and a prickling sensation behind the right ear as she used the needle deftly, were his first indication of her intention. Immediately, the room began to blur before his eyes, and a choking darkness crept into his brain!

  Swift realization of what had happened swept over him even before the words of his assailant seeped into his darkening brain:

  “Just a bit of suspended animation, my dear friend, while The Domino Lady makes her exit!”

  IF SPEED were required before, Ellen Patrick outdid herself now. A tiny black card with the inscription The Domino Lady’s Compliments in white ink, was tossed upon the desk as a souvenir of her daring visit. Then, without a glance at the fallen Wyatt, she opened the massive door and exited into the perilous corridor! What if a guard, or a guest had missed the hunter and were lying in wait for her? What if... but she had no time for idle speculations. It was a grand test for the nerves of the little adventuress. If she had miscalculated, she could expect trouble in a large dose and with a capital T! If she were lucky — well, that would be a still different story. Three minutes later, her stilted heels were clicking across the conservatory. She heard a faint shuffling of feet in the direction of the foyer and judged that the guests were leaving. Her lungs expanded and contracted in a deep breath of relief when she found the dressing room vacant, the coats missing, and the place all to herself.

  WORKING with the speed of a burlesque strip-artist, she peeled the incriminating black crepe frock from her lovely, quivering figure. Swiftly, the brown satin dress replaced it. The black gown and the domino were quickly folded and added to the letters which she placed in a large, addressed envelope. This gown of special construction for the purpose, folded neatly about the domino, hypo-needle, and automatic, and the package made no very perceptible bulge beneath the high-necked satin dress. Then, smiling, Ellen Patrick joined the departing guests in the foyer!

  “Mr. Wyatt?” a servant was saying as she departed. “Just a wee-nip too much, sir! You know how it is, sir? He will be quite all right in a little while, sir! Thank you, sir!”

  And The Domino Lady smiled knowingly to herself as she hesitated in the lobby long enough to drop the large envelope into the mail chute for the morrow’s delivery! No taking chances with the incriminating parcel at the last moment, she mused! And her mind was busy with three pleasant subjects as her cab knifed the night traffic of Hollywood Boulevard: Wyatt’s discomfiture; Eloise Schenick’s thankfulness; and her next encounter with the handsome hunter who never knew any rules.

  THE END

  The Domino Lady Doubles Back

  By Lars Anderson

  Originally published in the June 1936 issue of Saucy Romantic Adventures

  Chapter 1

  “ELLEN PATRICK, as I live! What are you doing in San Francisco?”

  Roge McKane, young private investigator, dropped into a chair opposite Ellen in the Cocktail Room of Frisco’s exclusive Hotel Catalan.

  “Hello, Roge,” she smiled, brown eyes narrowing languorously as she flicked the ashes from her cigarette.

  “I’m just week-ending, and taking in the Kettrick Ball Masque. How’s the sleuthing business since we last met?”

  “Fair,” drawled McKane, his dark eyes searching Ellen’s lovely face and sensuous figure with frankly admiring candor. “But did I hear you mention the Kettrick Ball?”

  “Why, yes,” she murmured, casually, a tight little smile playing about the corners of her disturbing crimson lips as her great brown eyes swept over the handsome features of the young detective.

  “I hear it is to be quite an event. Why, Roge?”

  “Oh, it should be quite an event,” he assured her, “if present indications are to be accepted as a criterion. I’ll be there myself, in my professional capacity, of course.”

  She was instantly alert, cautious. “Professional capacity?” she questioned, quickly. “Why... what do you mean? I didn’t think...”

  He glanced about the rather crowded room, leaned closer to her before replying. “Kettrick’s showing his collection tonight!” he confided in a half-whisper. “Them and that ex-movie star wife he brought back from Los Angeles!

  “But wait,” he continued, as she started to interrupt, “You haven’t heard the half of it, Ellen! He’s had a threatening note from that nervy little dame who calls herself The Domino Lady! And...”

  Ellen broke in with a short laugh. “But the police will protect a big shot like Kettrick.” Contemptuously. “And I wouldn’t envy anyone who tried to crash the Kettrick mansion tonight!”

  McKane laughed, mirthlessly.

  “Yeah, Ellen, that sounds logical, I know, but Old Boy Kettrick is a slick customer. Rumors are that at least part of his collection is fenced rocks! At any rate, he’s not calling in his friends, the police, for protection!

  “And that’s where Mrs. McKane’s little boy, Roger, comes in! Some of the boys and me are to be johnnies on the spot tonight, and grab The Domino Lady if she has the nerve to show up, and try anything!”

  Ellen smiled, enigmatically.

  “It all sounds absurd to me,” she exclaimed, “I’d think he’d call the ball off until a more favorable time, if danger threatens. Why, with celebrities from all parts of the state attending, and...”

  “That’s just the point!” he grinned, beckoning to a hovering waiter. “Have another drink, Ellen?”

  She shook her golden
head, decisively. “Thanks, no, Roge. If I’m attending that masque tonight, and all the intriguing things you say are true, I’ll want a clear head so’s not to miss a thing!”

  McKane ordered a drink for himself, then leaned across the table again. He grinned.

  “As I was saying, Ellen, Old Kettrick is a stubborn ass. And he’s mighty proud of those diamonds and of that new wife he imported from Hollywood. Hell and high water couldn’t stop the festivities tonight, not even if he knew there might be shootings. The lives of his celebrated guests are secondary to him! So it’s up to the boys and me to see that nothing happens, no matter where our personal sympathies lie...”

  “With you there, Roge,” she smiled, seductively, crossing one silken-clad leg over the other in a careless gesture which immediately drew McKane’s admiring gaze. “Everyone will be perfectly safe! And here’s luck to you, Big Boy!”

  Ellen raised her half-emptied glass to her lips, smiled at him over the edge of it as she sipped the amber liquid, slowly.

  Roge McKane grinned his appreciation as he raised his own glass.

  “And here’s to the loveliest girl to grace the Kettrick mansion tonight!” he toasted, boldly, his dark gaze sweeping her seductive figure and piquant face, and centering on her moist, crimson lips.

  “But this Domino Lady,” she quickly changed the subject. “Is she just a money-mad little thief, or...”

  “I really don’t think so, Ellen,” he interrupted, quickly. “Perhaps you won’t be able to understand, but it’s rumored about that she never steals for personal gain. It is said that she is the anonymous donor of much of the money which has been given to worthy charity in this state recently.

  “Why, in this instance, her threat is aimed at the crooked politicians. Ames Kettrick, who owns half the tenements in town. And, not satisfied with penny-grabbing and the ejecting of widows and orphans from his shacks, he flatly refused aid to the Community Orphanage where hundreds of poor kiddies, some of them being victims of Kettrick’s greed, are badly in need of help.