Mystery Of The Sea Horse by Lee Falk Page A

know so soon that we hadn't died in the boat explosion?"
"He probably didn't," the Phantom told her. "He's simply covering all the bases. He must have told his red-haired sharpshooter to keep an eye on I his house. The assumption being if we got out of the ocean alive we'd come back here."
"Laura missed, but Chris isn't likely to give up. Is he?"
"I think he'll have to give up now," replied the Phantom. "He's going to have to concentrate on getting himself safely away." He glanced at the phone. "Let me make a call to my federal-agent friend up in San Francisco."
Diana was watching the partially open door of the bedroom. You could hear the voices of the patrolmen who were in the living room with her nncle.
At the phone, the Phantom punched out a special number.
"Hello?" answered a wide-awake voice.
"Terry, this is Walker."
"Hi," said Agent Terry, "you still here in SF?"
    "Down in Santa Barbara," he said. "And I've
got quite a lot of information on that gentleman known as Chris Danton."
"Great. What have you got?"
"I think I know where he's keeping some of the narcotics."
"Good. We think he's got another shipment due in from the South in the next day or so. We can set up a—"
"Time is something we don't have," cut in the Phantom. "Danton knows I know. He's tried to kill us twice. Since he's failed and knows it, I think he'll run for it."
"Us? Who's us?"
Ignoring the question, he asked, "Who can I get in touch with here in the Santa Barbara area. We have to hit this island of his right now, tonight if possible."
"Call Marcus." Terry gave him a local number. "He's a good man, just recently transferred in from the East."
"Ill talk to him."
"Let me know as soon as something cracks," requested Terry. "I've been trying to get something positive on this Danton guy for too long now."
"I will."
The bedroom door was pushed slowly open. Uncle Dave entered, his face strangely immobile and pale.
"What is it?" Diana asked as she walked toward him.
"Somebody wants to talk to you, Di."
"More police?"
"No, this is a federal man," said Uncle Dave. "An agent named Marcus."
Agent Marcus lit a menthol cigarette as he circled slowly around the sofa in the den. "So you say you never knew Chris Danton before you arrived in Santa Barbara, Miss Palmer?"
Diana was sitting on the dark sofa next to the Phantom. Her uncle was behind the wooden desk. "That's right, I met him here," she said. "At a party of my uncle's, the day I got in."
"You have no idea what kind of business he's in?"
"Yes, he's smuggling drugs," answered the girl.
Marcus was around in front of the sofa. He halted. "You mean you—?"
"Look," the Phantom told him, "right now Danton is probably clearing off of San Obito."
Exhaling smoke, Marcus said, "I prefer to handle this thing my way . . . Mr. Walker. Now, Miss Palmer, how long have you been aware that—?"
"What are you trying to tie Diana in with?" Uncle Dave wanted to know.
"I'm trying to find out exactly what her connection with Danton is," Marcus replied. "I have a great deal of respect for you, Mr. Palmer, and your reputation. But—"
The Phantom said, "You must know Terry."
"Up in Frisco? Yeah, I know him. Why?"
"I was just on the phone with him. He told me to get in touch with you about Danton."
"So you know Terry, huh?" Marcus crossed to the desk to snuff out his cigarette in a seashell ashtray.
"Call him now and confirm it."
"I'll do that," promised Marcus. "But first, I want to ask Miss Palmer a few more questions. For instance, how does this shooting here tonight link up with your relationship to Danton?"
"Danton's behind it," answered Diana. "He wants to kill us. With you around, though, that hardly seems necessary."
Uncle Dave was standing up, angry. "Why 'd you come here, Marcus? Did you get some kind of tip?"
Marcus lit a fresh cigarette, concentrating on that, not meeting the old man's eyes. "Well, okay, ; yes," he said finally. "We have information indicating Miss Palmer may be involved with Chris Danton in his alleged