The Story Thus Far: Biff Bundie, University undercoverman disguised as graduate student Kevin Stoddard Health, found himself investigating a bizarre murder in Mallinckrodt from a novel angle: a mysterious phrase--"Ze Bronts Rhinot-across"--spoken hurriedly over the phone by a foreigner. After unsuccessfully trying to convince a Cliffie that it was a coffee shop, Biff decided that The Bronze Rhinoceros must be the nickname of a professor, and he spent an afternoon trailing Karandas Nathasingh, a portly instructor in Indian Studies. Eventually, Bundle learned that The Bronze Rhinoceros was one of a pair of large statue outside the Biology Labs, but not before he had brutally insulted the Immense Indian. Flanked by a sympathetic crowd, Karandas began railing at the young defective. Just thehn Biff noticed a large piece of green and white paper impaled all the horn of one of the rhinoceroses.

With trembling fingers, Biff pulled the sheet of paper from the beast's born and turned it face up. For the moment the forgot Karandas and the angry crowd; for the moment Bundie's attention was riveted only to the message scrawled in a nervous hand. He could almost hear the maker of that desperate writing speak the words: "Fool! Zair iss no time ant much danchur. I could not vait any longer, I vill call you again."

It was an eerie scene. The two rhinoceroses looked out over a courtyard bathed in that red-gray light of late afternoon; Biff stood alone staring intently at the large note in his hand; the crowd in front of the main door of the Biology Labs grew suddenly silent and waited for something to happen.

The tableau did not last long. Suddenly Karandas began waving his arms and shouting, "I will see him arrested and incarcerated! If it is the final act of my existence, I shall have him removed from society! And then, I shall return to India!" The bystanders seemed to voice approval of these suggestions, and only then did Bundie realize the awkwardness of his immediate situation.

"My good friends ..." he began to the crowd, but there was such a loud outburst that he could not go on. He tried again; "I appeal to you a same and honest Harvard man ..," but Karandas made motions suggesting physical violence, and Biff dropped the attempt. Bundie was stymied. There seemed to be only one way out of the imbroglio he had so deftly hammered himself into: he would have to reveal his secret identity as a University policeman. Sighing deeply, Biff reached into his right inside coat pocket for his badge.

"Look out!" Karandas screamed, "He's got a revolver!" A female lab technician shrieked and before another word was said, the crowd had scattered.

"A revolver!" Bundie gasped, "Someone's got a revolver!"

"He is mad! He is insane! He has lost his senses!" thundered the elephantine Indian, who was trying to hide his tremendous bulk behind one of the animal statues.

Bundie, meanwhile, had begun edging away from the confusion in a somewhat nervous manner. "I suppose I should find out who had that gun, but something tells me that this ...er... note is more important." In a few seconds, Biff had left the Biology Lab courtyard and was on his way back to Police Headquarters.

As he entered Grays Hall, Bundie once again found the Office strangely active. Several officers were talking softly but actively in the outer office. Bundie walked past them and approached the Chief, who was periodically pounding his fist on the desk blotter. "Two in one day," he muttered. "Two in one day."

"Excuse me Chief, but I think I've found another clue..."

"Two in one day," the Chief repeated.

Somehow realizing that it was the wrong thing to do, Biff asked anyway, "Two what, Chief?"

The Chief's reply was something just louder than a roar: "Murders! You dimwit, murders!"

Bundie was thrown backwards by both the force and content of the Chief's last remark. He knew about the Mallinckrodt murder that morning, but ...

Sensing Biff's confusion, the Chief was already speaking, "professor ... chairman of department ... sprawled face-down ... University Squash Courts ... gassed ... squash ball soaked in chemical ... gave off 'noxious vapors when warmed,' the doc says..."

Bundie shoved the piece of green and white paper back into his pocket. "The whole thing was too overpowering," he thought. "Two murders, a mysterious phone call, a man with a gun." Suddenly the Chief rose from his desk, snapping Biff out of his reverie.

"I'm going back to search the locker room. Bundie, come with me."

The two lawmen walked briskly out of Grays Hall and across Mass. Ave. Turning down Linden Street, they noticed that a large crowd had gathered in front of the Squash Courts. An ambulance was parked at the curb, and two attendants were carrying out the body. The Chief stopped the stretcher before it reached the ambulance and lifted one corner of the sheet. Biff blanched. The corpse was an unusually livid color and the face was twisted into a macabre grimace. Bundie swallowed hard and followed the Chief into the building.

A quick, but thorough, search of the deceased's locker afforded no further clues, and the Chief departed, leaving Bundie with orders to wait in the locker room until the Chief could find a replacement. Feeling not a little nervous, Biff paced slowly back and forth between the long rows of lockers.

"Two murders in one day," Bundie said half-aloud, echoing the Chief's words. "Two murders in one day." With an absent-minded kick, Bundie sent a stray piece of paper flying. Suddenly his heart leaped to his throat: the paper was identical to the one he had found inside the package the sinister foreigner had given him by mistake! Like some great spark plug, Bundie's mind flashed. Swiftly, he recounted the day's events to himself, "The circle with the Roman numeral seven in it was stamped on the sole of the foot of the other corpse. There must be a connection!"

Disregarding the Chief's orders, Bundie picked up the card and' raced out of the Squash Courts and onto Linden Street. As he reached Mass. Ave., he collided smartly with a thickly bespectacled student.

"Look out where you're going!" yelled the myopic young man.

"Overprivileged Harvard students!" muttered Biff as he took off once again for Police Headquarters.

As he entered the Yard, Bundie spotted the Chief walking up the steps of Grays Hall. "Chief! Chief! I've found a clue!" he barely managed to gasp.

"What is it, Bundie? Stop babbling and tell me what you've found."

Biff pulled out the card and showed it to the Chief, who silently took it and examined it carefully. "Nice work Bundie."

Biff smiled and the Chief went on. "We've identified the Mallinckrodt victim: another professor. This one also the chairman of his department. We also discovered that they both had large gambling debts."

Bundie let out a low whistle. "Gambling debts," he said. "Now we're really getting into big-time crime."

For the next ten minutes, Bundie and the Chief stood on the steps, and Biff related his escapade with the Bronze Rhinoceros. Finally Bundie handed the Chief the sheet of green and white paper which the stranger had left for him.

The Chief nodded thoughtfully and said, "Earlier today you mentioned something about some tobacco. What was that all about?"

"Oh, that!" Biff replied, "It's in my office sitting on the desk."

The two policemen walked back into the building and into Bundie's office. But the package was gone. As the Chief stood watching the young sleuth, another officer walked in.

"Say Bundie, some little fellow came in and picked up that package you left for him."

"What?" gasped Biff. With a thud, he flopped into his chair. "The only real clue we have, and I've lost it."

Mumbling something about morons, the Chief exited, leaving Bundie alone with his thoughts. "Somehow, someone is committing grisly crimes," he mused, "and something tells me that I'm the one who's been picked to find out who."

(To Be Continued)

Next Episode: JEOPARDY IN JAMES