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“I went back to the house to get a bath and a full night’s sleep The cleaners e, but they claim they didn’t”

Isaac Bell was troubled that he could not tell for sure whether the young scientist was speaking the truth or ress He said, “I’ll post a ht, when you’re not here”

“I don’t leave often”

“I know Mr Van Dorn is i new to do with Imperial?”

Clyde Lynds hadthe halls and riding the elevators while pondering the knotty science behind his Talking Pictures machine He shared Bell’s suspicion of the mysteriously wealthy co pictures outside He got the job ’cause he’s pals with so Or he ht be just another hired hand”

“What’s his picture called?”

“The Brewer’s Daughter”

“What’s it about?”

“The hero hter, and they live happily ever after”

“I’ll look into it”

33

Isaac Bell dabbed a mixture of black shoe polish and Pinaud Clubolden hair under a leather flying-les over his blue eyes Then he mounted a shiny black Indianin and out of streetcars, autos, trucks, and wagons at breakneck speed The machine was the brand-new model with an auto starts, and a springy front fork that Bell hoped would help in the jumps

Leaning into a turn, he cut along the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks toward Aliso He careened onto Aliso, headed straight for an intersection occupied by an enor plant, and poured on the speed Closing fast on the brewery, he saw a canvas sign hanging above a roped-off empty lot that read:

IMPERIAL FILM

“THE BREWER’S DAUGHTER”