on Fats Revenge Old Won Fat had Figured Out the Perfect Revenge—But He Hadn’t Counted | on the Vigilance of a “Loot Yee” (Policeman) with a “Camera Eye” for Detail. | E SOUL OF WON FAT was heavy hin him. The sultry beauty of the warm ymer evening was entirely lost upon 1. Air, laden with the rich aroma of > fruit wafted from the orchards of the ile Okanagan Valley lost its charm for ; lonely Oriental whose years were vily upon him. Seventy-five summers | passed since he had first seen the light day beside the paddy fields of China. - 47 years he had dwelled among the eign devils in this strange land of Can- , with no wife to care for him, no sons pray for him when he departed to the id from which there is no return, and no ighters to minister to his old age. indeed, Won Fat mused, life had not n bounteous with its gifts, for, why uld he be now a helper in a cafe instead the lord of broad acres of rice fields? t that is fate and it was bearable as long his bones were returned to his native ina to be laid at rest with his ancestors. t there were some things that one could - regard with the tranquility prescribed Confucius. The foreign devil white man at the cafe had found fault with dish-washing. Who was she to find lt with a man of his years? And later, en he had called upon her in a spirit of iability, why had she denied him access her home and closed the door upon him? > was a woman, an inferior being accord- to the traditions of China, and why uld she not be honoured by his attention? on Fat was not happy. As his impassive e looked upon the velvety night sky, period of rest as well as meditation, and so he shuffled off to his bed. The Okanagan town of Vernon slept. The cool night breeze from the lake ab- sorbed the heat of the previous day and refreshed the trees bordering the wide avenues. At the telephone office lights were still shining as the night shift operator kept her vigil. The night patrol called at the office from time to time, and about 1:40 o'clock in the morning, Provincial Constable A. Krivenko made his routine call, and stopped to speak for a few minutes to the operator and another girl before con- tinuing his patrol. Suddenly at 2 a.m. the peaceful air of the slumbering town was disturbed with the terror shriek of the fire siren wailing out its message of disaster. Constable Krivenko ran to the Fire Station and arrived just in time to swing on to the running board of one of the fire engines as they raced out. Arriving at the scene of the fire, they found the corner of the Women’s Institute Build- ing, situated on Coldstream Street, in flames which were twining their red tongues towards the roof. Energetic action on the part of the fire brigade led by Chief Fred Little soon reduced the fire to smoking wood. and steam. FIREBUG AT WORK Chief Little was puzzled. How could this building have caught fire on the out- side? No one had been in the place for some time, and there was no doubt that the origin was at the base of the south-west thoughts grew more sombre, and the ,corner. There had been no grass fire to d of frustrated old age corroded his. fMignite the building, so how had it started? bt. Searching among the debris Chief Little He should go to his couch in the ChineseffMsuddenly straightened and called out: “Say, rk-house as another day of toil wouldjfConstable Krivenko, what do you think n dawn, and his old bones required a The back of the Women’s Institute Building and the rubbish box in the vacant lot where Won Fat his lane Const. Krivenko followed the fire- bug’s footprints in the dust. ~- - Courtesy of Mr. Harry Andison, Vernon, B. C. got the material to start the fire. Photo: Courtesy of Mr. Harry Andison, Vernon, Boe. SEE * * of this.” The Constable at once dropped his examination of the area close to the building, and joined the Chief, who held up a jute bag, partly consumed by fire. “Looks like the work of a firebug,” said the officer, and searched the inside of the bag, which contained a collection of partly burned paper and twine. “But who would want to burn down the Women’s Institute meeting hall? What possible motive could anyone have for doing such a thing,” said the Chief. Nevertheless the evidence was there to speak for itself. Both fire and police officials then commenced a minute examination of the ground adjacent to the fire in ever widening arcs. The evidence started to accumulate, first one partly burned match, then another, and another. With great care Constable Krivenko pre- served these mute witnesses and placed them in an envelope. Next, in the dry powdery dust of the lot a footprint appeared under the ray of the powerful searchlights. A footprint, that thrilling clue so often en- countered in mystery stories and so seldom found in real crime. But this footprint was no ordinary footprint such as left by a worn leather shoe. No indeed, this foot- print had a trade name in the instep, and characteristics which showed that it was made with a rubber. A rubber on a warm summer evening in the Okanagan? This in itself was highly unusual. _ Constable Krivenko continued his pains- taking search, assisted by Chief Little. Ina lane at the rear of the building the foot- prints were again encountered. This time, the prints ran in two directions, east and west down the lane as if the wearer of the This picture, taken from the steps of the Okanagan Telephone Company’s office shows Const. Krivenko’s view of the thoroughfare while he stood talking to two young women at the entrance to the Telephone Building. At the extreme right, where the constable is pointing, Won Fat turned off the path and crossed the street. Photo: Courtesy of Mr. Harry Andison, Vernon, B. C.