PENTICTON FOR PROMPT, COURTEOUS SERVICE Phone 99 Dudsons Dan Compan. BRITISH COLUMBIA Kelowna’s Community Social Centre Noted for its hospitality, service and excellent Don Balsillie, Manager cuisine Kelowna, B.C, Phone 380 Penticton UNITED CO-OPERATIVE GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION Fruit and Vegetable Shippers and Exporters “OLD GOLD” BRAND B.C. VET’S TAXI Phone 777 PENTICTON EV GORDON & WALLY MOORE DAY AND NIGHT SERVICE At The Hub, next to the Bus Depot B.C. PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS Phone 266 PENTICTON TRADING ASSOCIATION LTD. CO-OPERATIVE STORE General Merchandise Penticton British Columbia NEW EMPRESS CAFE AGNES RAY, Proprietress WE SATISFY THE HEARTIEST e 8 Front St. APPETITES Penticton, B.C. PARKER MOTORS LTD. @ De Soto @ Sales and Service @ Dodge Trucks @ Dodge Woods Hoists. Complete Service, Bear Wheel Alignment. Slater Brake Tester. Tune Up Specialists. Satisfaction or Money Refunded. Phone 90 Penticton B.C. Page Ninety-eight his mind, wasn’t it likely that he would have first peeked inside to see if his pros- pective victim was alone? Doccep DrETERMINATION Wins Out Removing the snow from beneath the window, he had an uneasy feeling that he was being watched. His hands blue with cold, he continued to swing broom and shovel beneath the cold blue light of the stars until he had cleared a space twenty feet back from the window. No footprint broke the glazed crust beneath the drifts. It was now past midnight and, despite the exercise, the biting cold was creeping into his bones with paralyzing effect. He was about to abandon his task, when some hunch seemed to urge him on. Sud- denly a dark stain a->eared—a_ small splotch of frozen blood. Near by was the frozen imprint of a woman’s shoe. Be- side it was another deep impression, showing that the wearer must have stood gazing through the window for some time. Eagerly he continued his task, finding more prints spaced far apart, as though the woman had suddenly turned and fled. Measuring the prints, he traced them care- fully on a sheet of paper, noting they were made by a small, low-heeled shoe. As he circled the building, still ob- sessed with the idea that unseen eyes were watching, he made another discovery. A cutter drawn by an unshod horse had been driven to within a few paces of the rear at about the same time—the hoof marks indicating that the horse had been left standing a while before continuing on its way. Thawing his freezing hody before the crackling woodstove in the hotel, Sche- pers pondered these new discoveries. The deeply indented footprints implied that a woman had visited the murder spot be- fore it had turned cold, which would place her visit as being at some time be- fore eight o’clock on Christmas Eve. His first deduction, that Ambroise had been killed in a fit of jealous rage by some woman he had jilted, he dismissed, as no woman would have been strong enough to overcome the powerful youth or wield the axe with the ferocious strength displayed. On second thought he | wondered if some girl had hurried tp warn the man of impending danger and, arriving too late, had seen the crime per- petrated before her eyes and fled, fear lending wings to her feet as the long strides suggested. But where did the cut- ter fit into the picture? PERHAPS JEALOUSY? Next morning, as he renewed inquiries into Chaboyer’s romantic associations, it became obvious that the tall, good-looking Frenchman had pursued his amours with a light-hearted impartiality characteristic of his Gallic temperament. There emerged at last the name of Yvonne Touchet, a pretty, dark-eyed brunette with olive cheeks and cupid-bow lips, who lived — nearby. Chaboyer, it was said, had held — first place in her affections until ousted recently by a surly young giant named — Armand LeRoux. At a dance not long before, it was reported, the rivalry be | tween the two men had flamed into open | violence and LeRoux had been_ badly | worsted. Yvonne, when interviewed, ad- mitted her fondness for the dead man, but, like everyone in St. Laurent, became — cold and impassive under further ques tioning. Disgusted with his lack of success, Schepers made his way thoughtfully to- ward the LeRoux home. Casting a swift glance at a red-painted cutter in the yard, he knocked at the door and was admitted by a pleasant-faced, grey-haired womat. To Armand LeRoux, a dark-eyed young man of Herculean build but weak chin, his visit seemed far from welcome. Sitting uneasily in a babiche-netted chair, his face the colour of mottled parch ment, he seemed tongue-tied as Schepers questioned him. His answers bordering Mc & Mc Hardware—Furniture—China Beatty Barn Equipment and Pumps Case Farm Machinery McLennan, McFeely & Prior PENTICTON, B.C. THE SHOULDER STRAP