The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1933-04-25
Lorn dryly. ..Now then. Mr.I

SUMMARY AA@A00 essse& 0o00SSS9 sAA0S
your man In the courtyard and her
abductor and the murderer are one
and the same man. What's your
opinion?"
"It's entirely possible" I said.
"Anything's possible. But of course
there's no way to be sure Of that. I
couldn't possibly identity the man
in the courtyard; Miss Tally didn't
even get a look at her abductor. and i
neither Of Us saw the murderer"
"There isn't any way in which /
You could arrive at some means OF
identifying the man in the court
yard?'
mo. He was only footsteps and a
revolver and once q BIT Of cloth. But.
feel. / don't know why. tina: fits
possible that the murdered man was
the man wac carried Miss Tally or
earlier In the evening"
-Ah," said Lorn. ''How about IL.
Miss Tally?"
II don't know" she said. Her face
was white and pinched-looking at
the recollection. II thought OF that.
too. But / couldn't tell. If he were
the same man, though" she said
doubtfnlly. "why should he have
been killed? Who killed him?"
remembered the flying figure
against the light from my opened
door; remembered her slim fingers
holding the little dagger. remem-
bered its being replaced on the clock. !
"sTsHERE are dozen answers %
: that" said Lorn quietly. "The
most cHyiors one is that. in that
case, he was murdered by second
person who would like to get possess
sion of your means OF identifying
yourself to your brother and who
thought your abductor had It. / take
t." he added rather hurriedly. shat
you've told Mr.. Sunbeam everything
about the affair.""
yes" said Sue briefly.
said thoughtfully:
Look here. II we presuppose that
that's the reason for the murder
or better. IL we simply assume that
there Is q conspiracy or q plot TO
rob Miss Tally"
II think we can scarcely escape
assuming that" murmured Lorn.
well. then. what would the plan
be. do ron suppose? Miss Tally says
the token she has isn't worth any
thing IN itself"
"You can answer that yourself.
Mr.. Sunbeam" said Lorn. He leaned
back in his chair. put the tips OF his
fingers together. and half closed his
eyes. It was. I guessed. the kind OF
question he liked.
-0h. the obvious thing Is to sub
stituts someone for Miss Tally
Certainly" said. L,orn. ..Snhsti-
tuition Is the essential part Of the
scheme. We must keep that in mind.
There could be- no other way Of do.
ing. And that implies two people az
least knowing the secret-the fek
low who tried to abduct Miss Tally.
and the girl he intends to substitute.
Ellis abducting ron argues either
that your room was 10 be thoroughly
searched at q given time. and thus
you were to be out Of the way during
that time. or that he had some rea-
son to believe you carried the token
with you--somewhere about your
clothing-and intended to search
you"
"Itss ali right now" I said quick
" to Sua "You are perfectly safe
now
ooh" she said family. "Don't
mind me. It's only that ! keep re-
nembering-- Do 90 on, Mr.. Lofn."
II was only going to say" con.
tinued Lorn rather disapprovingly.
shat there might be an alternative
plan. Even two alternatives. One
would be that there would be an at
tempt 20 gain your confidence and
thus discover the whereabouts Of
the token. Another might be the pos.
Ing Of some man as your brother"
"As my brother" said Sue.
''0f course Lorn looked inpa-
tient.
-Upon which I would presumably
turn over the token to hint Well.
won't do that. Francis shah not see
my token until he shows me his own.
No oue shall SEQ t."
"Hut see here. Lorn." offered.
"There,s a flaw IN all three Of your
alternatives. You know the real Sue.
And you know the real Francis."
He nodded. Unfortunately it's
the same tiaw. and l am It. But
there's q simple solution. You forget.
Mr. Sunbeam. the existence OF some
one In the AFFAIR who's rapid and
ready with his revolver. And dead
men tell no tales
s.Ohl" cried sue with horror. "Yoa
don't mean that. Mr.. Lorni"
-Why. yes. Il n obvious. However.
I'm not unused to danger"
"And what" said Sue. do they
expect 70 do with met" Her eyes
had widened with horror. and her
face was white and rigid.
II