The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1934-07-02

The uniformed policeman on
guard at the front door to the Du.
fresno house looked alert and ex.
cited when he saw the olicial group
coming up the path. Plenty OF ex.
element IL there this morning. Ser.
geant!" he volunteered.
The four men from Headquarters
walked into the hail. They heard
voices coming from the rear OF the
house and found an excited group
back In the kitchen. A policeman
had taken his stand at the back
door and Andrews and the hit
mores were holding a live discus.
sion with him.
The appearance Of Sergeant Har-
per and his party choKed on this
talk. The detective greeted them
briefly, then turned to the police
man. where's O'ConnelI?"
Hes out there. with the body"
nodding toward the garage.
IAN right. boys"
They went out the back door,
crossed the porch. went down the
wooden steps and along the brick
path under covered pergola. The
snow that had fallen the night be.
tore had thrust its spearheads be
EN- the latticed sides, but the
iddle Of the walk was clear. From
he. pergoIa to the stone garage was
matter OF about fifteen yards and a
Humber OF tracks in the otherwise
smooth snow led to the side door Of
the building. where there was .
small porch with wooden Colonial
benches on each side, under little
pent roof.
THE four men crowded around the
L bed where Joseph Donaghy lay
dead. lying back at an angle from
the edge OF the bed, with his head
sidewise on the pillow. He wore no
uniform, but had taken on the coat
and vest OF his civilian suit. The
automatic gun was loosely held in
his right hand. His feet rested on
the floor. his arms were in a natural
position. The bullet had been nfed
into the right temple.
The Coroner's man picked up the
elected shell from a fold of the bed
clothes. He looked closely at the
wound, then bent one of the fingers.
He nodded to Harper. Been dead
six or seven hours"
Harper. satisfied with his scrutiny,
gave the signal to the photographer
and the police surgeon and they set
about their routine procedure. Then
the detective turned to the piece de
resistance of this unexpected eli
max.
A chair, with Donaghy's feet still
under it. was drawn up close to the
bed. On the chair stood q portable
typewriter and in it was a typed
letter: The arrangement suggested
that the chauffeur had finished typ.
ing. reached for his gun without get
ting up. pulled the trigger, and fal-
len sideways across the bed. Harper
carefully released the letter and
read it. This was the letter:
I'm going to kick. on ina minute
because / couldn't stand going to
jail. maybe to the chair, Tonight
tried to win enough jack to makea
sure getaway, but instead
dropped my roll. Harper Il wise 10
me ! know although he goes around
limiting that he's got something on
the boss q go.
I'm not sorry bumped on Harry
Dorey but I'm real sorry had to
bump off the cop. ! knew him and
he was a good guy but | had no
choice when he butted in.k
| never had any luck after got
in with Harry. We started on easy
jobs but when Harry wanted to try
the dirty stuff I wanted to pull out.
He got nasty and said he, would
turn me in IL didn't play BAH. So
| figured out way to get rid of
him. ~ 80.
Look in the old tire hanging on
the wall Of the garage and 1t. viii
save lot OF explaining. My scheme
worked out fine and my alibi held
up and everything would have been
all right IL 1t hadn't been for the
Nobody will shed a tear because
Harry has gone, so | burned all
his papers. Harper can, figure out
the rest OF It for himself, Anyway
/ swore ID never go to Jan and I
this With bail guess that won't be
necessary.
Harper read this startling comics
sion through twice and put the let
ter aside thoughtfully. Have you
been down in the garage. O'Con.
nell?"
yes, sir. It's just like 1t says IN
the letter-an old tire hangin' UP on
a big spike"
"All right. bring the tire UP here"
Presently the ruddy-faced police
man came back with the designated
tire. O'Connell held it upright on
the window-seat. while Harper's
eager fingers dislodged the contents
Of the circular hiding place.
The first. and bulkiest portion OF
The treasure trove proved to be .
neatly-skeined length of a very thin,
but exceptionally strong and dur.
able rope. It was a brownish yellow
In color and to each end Of It metal
ring was bound. These rings had the
circumference Of a fifty-cent piece.
Copyright. 1854. 6y Walter G. Brot0sJ
Tomorrow, the piece Of rope 10
explained.