He grinned. Being a very wealthy man, his code was simple. Money could do anything, but anything. It was evident that he enjoyed fencing with this beautiful girl as a prelude to her final abdication to his advances.
“The fact that you’ve remained aloof disproves your statement!” he murmured. “But if you’d care to prove it, you’ll have to include yourself among the most beautiful for my sake, at least!”
Ellen flushed. Wyatt certainly had a way with him. A smooth, impressive, magnetic personality radiating a compelling appeal. The hint of arrogance which showed through the veneer of his suavity added to his charm and desirability in the eyes of most women. Even Ellen felt herself liking him more and more!
Without replying, her eyes wandered to the glittering panorama of the city far below, visible through the open windows that stretched from floor to ceiling on one side of the huge conservatory.
“What a magnificent view!” she remarked.
“Do you like it?” he asked, taking her rounded arm as she rose. “Would you like to walk around the terrace and see the sights?”
* * *
—
Ellen had finished her second glass of champagne, and it had been wonderful. Every sip of her favorite drink seemed to be more tasty than the one preceding it, and a warm glow came into being within her soft body. And her mental reaction turned decidedly to the exhilarating! Rising from her seat, she moved onto the terrace with Wyatt, her slim, pink-tipped hand grasping the crook of his elbow.
Darkness surrounded them there. Chairs and cushioned settees, potted palms and uniquely-boxed plants were everywhere. Ellen quickly found that the sights mentioned by her attentive host included not only the panoramic night view of Hollywood and vicinity, but also several necking parties being indulged in by several others of Rob Wyatt’s party guests!
As they strolled along, Ellen caught glimpses of interlocking arms, the paleness of feminine flesh glowing whitely against the somber hue of masculine coats…Heard faint murmurs, soft whispers, as caresses were exchanged between the more amorous guests!
The wine had given her a feeling of walking on air as she glided along the terrace, clinging to the arm of Wyatt. As disjointed bits of conversational emotion came to their ears, she laughed, softly.
“Rather a sophisticated party, Mr. Wyatt!”
“Just the usual thing, my dear!” he grinned, placing a big hand over the slender one that was so snugly ensconced in the crook of his arm. “And that’s why Hollywood likes Rob Wyatt ‘shindigs,’ you see!”
“So it would seem!” laughed Ellen.
* * *
—
While strolling, they had come upon an unoccupied settee, and now Wyatt indicated it with a nod of his dark head. “Shall we?”
“So the guests aren’t the only ones who get ideas?” she insinuated, softly.
“Could my mind be blank on a night like this?” he retorted in jest, then sobered. “I’m taking a chance on having this crowd around tonight! A chance not many would take, I’m sure…but when I knew you were coming here, I couldn’t call it off…”
She was instantly on guard. “A chance?” she asked, quickly. “Why, what do you mean?”
Laughing couples were everywhere, but Wyatt’s sober eyes were only for her. “I’ve been threatened!” he admitted, softly. “Threatened by the blonde adventuress who has styled herself ‘The Domino Lady’!…” He broke off, evidently at a loss as to just how to proceed.
Ellen laughed: “Why, that’s really absurd!” she exclaimed. “To think of your being molested in your own home while surrounded by friends and servants! Have you called the police?” Her concern was evident in her words and actions, and her host became at once more confiding.
“Why, no, I haven’t called the police,” he admitted, “because, you see, this little matter does not concern the police! It is strictly private, and something I’d rather not have them meddling with at present. It might cause a scandal, were it to come to light, and I cannot afford any scandal with a lieutenant governorship in the offing!” He whispered the latter sentence with an air of greatest secrecy; and Ellen almost laughed aloud.
“But what are you intending?” she asked, casually. “Surely you do not intend to quietly submit to threats without doing something?”
“I have everything attended to, thanks to the written threat I received,” he boasted, patting her bare arm and grinning, knowingly. “You see, there is no entrance to this penthouse excepting through the fire escapes, and steps leading to the lobby. I have men in the fire escapes, and on guard in the lobby. They will come to my aid at the slightest evidence of foul play. And they will be particularly alert during the midnight hour when the little crook is supposed to put in her appearance!”
“Then you’re perfectly safe,” Ellen assured him with a laugh. She wanted to ask further questions, but refrained. It wouldn’t do to arouse Wyatt’s suspicions, so she adroitly changed the subject. “Isn’t it time for a bit of music?” she asked, glancing at the tiny baguette on her wrist.
“Certainly, if you desire it, beautiful lady!” he grinned, brightening perceptibly. “Since the Wyatt menage is adequately equipped for anything in the way of a good time!”
“Including the perfect host!” she breathed. Ellen thought it a good idea to hand him a compliment, since she had obtained the necessary information from him, and she still had twenty minutes before midnight!
“Never more so than tonight!” he said, softly. “And all because you’re numbered among my guests.”
He grasped her bare arm, led her into a sumptuous living room. He switched on a powerful radio. The entrancing strains of the dreamy When I Grow Too Old to Dream floated out into the room.
“Shall we dance?” he asked.
She nodded, and he was quick to clasp her in his arms. She smiled at his hungry zeal.
“You’re a dream! Ellen, beautiful!” he whispered, intensely, as he led her through the steps of the waltz.
Thrills stabbed Ellen. She couldn’t help liking the possessive grip of his arm about her slender waist, drawing her close to him. Her lovely curves were flattened to his body, and she experienced an emotion quite unlike any that had before claimed her!
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 imp
ortant!”
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 III
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.
The Big Book of Female Detectives Page 37