| The | Sinister Painting |
By GREYE LA SPINA
"Barclay stared, closed his eyes convulsively, then stared again."
An eery story of a fiendish murder and a midget psychic investigator—by the author of "Invaders From the Dark" and "The Devil's Pool"
The taxi drove off, leaving Funk on the Hoddeston lawn, surrounded by valises. Funk was thinking it more than merely odd that Barclay, for whose coaching he had come prepared to spend a month, had not met him as planned. He tried the screen door; it was hooked inside.
"Hello, in there!" he hailed hopefully.
There was no response. The Hoddeston farm lay drenched in a torpid lethargy for which it was obvious more than the July heat must be responsible. Within the house, no one stirred. On the surrounding fields, no one was abroad. Even the usual sounds of the farm animals were hushed.
Funk was unpleasantly affected. Surely the entire household had not gone to meet his train and somehow missed it.
