Atlanta Daily World

Mary," he muttered. "Do you think she knew?"

"I hope so," I said. "I hope that Jane—"

"Mary bought a new dress," Grodnik said in a dull voice. "Bought it just last week. A silk one, very fancy for her. First new dress in over a year. Maybe she— I'll bet she—"

"Let's hope so, captain."

Abruptly Grodnik said: "The boys in the robbery detail said to tell you they were sorry things went wrong that night you got shot."

"That jerk Mackey," I said bitterly.

"Yes. Captain Hanneman gave him an official reprimand. But you made yourself some friends in the bureau. They wanted me to ask you how you managed to find out where Stewart was hiding."

"Maybe I had better not tell you."

"How so?" Grodnik asked.

"Stewart was promoted to assistant cashier about 18 months ago," I said. "We already had him bonded, but I checked him again, just to be sure he was clean. That's how I knew about the house. It was all he inherited when his mother died a few years ago. He got that old house and lot next to the park. When I heard Stewart had pulled a robbery, I grabbed Mackey and a couple of harness cops and went out to the house. I figured if Stewart was still in town, he might be hiding out there, waiting for a chance to get away."

"He didn't just hide out there, though," Grodnik went on. "We found something more. There was a little box caught halfway down the laundry chute of the bathroom." Grodnik took a notebook from his pocket. He opened it, flipped a few pages and then read: "A silver-paper box with a couple of empty bottles in it. Trademark, Tintair, type number eight, Mona Lisa Brown."

"Hair dye."

"That's what. Fast working stuff. Takes about 15 minutes to set and it's permanent, at least until the hair grows out again. So Stewart ain't a blonde any more. This Mona Lisa Brown is fairly dark, about the color of your hair."

"How far did you trace him?" I asked.

"Paoli." Grodnik said. "He left his car there in the station parking lot. From Paoli he could have caught a fast train heading west or he might have doubled back and gone up to New York or down to Washington and points south."

"Any leads on him?"

Grodnik shrugged slightly. "He had a girl friend who works in the advertising department at the Jonas store. Name of Mary MacVicker. We've got a 24-hour tail on her but she hasn't made a move. Except for her, Stewart stayed pretty close to himself. He belonged to a health club on Ninth St., but nobody there seems to know him very well. He just showed up twice a week for a game of handball, took a shower and went home. He had a one-room efficiency on Delancy St. Been there two years and doesn't have a friend in the building. He lived a very quiet life."