The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1937-06-28
Chapter IS
Look For The Loft,

fLsO&IAL me door behind me, j
~ leaned against Il. The person who
lad forced the door Of Jude's room to
hire Or % force Norman Harrington
cut toward the bluff must have
known that the old man was there
and that he had used q key 70 get
q the existence Of that key. And
Norman Farrington's son had gone
n search Of II and found II,
He as Standing there gazing at me
As man might gaze az q snake which
bad sprung a. him In the middle Of
rilth avenue.
you heard that. I suppose7" MI
chaei's voice was bleak.
~Tez~ Suddenly. unreasonably I
thought. We are three characters in
= play. Netting has happened. Moth
ing will hsppen until We remember
tie lines.r y 1Ilft
Michael's hand shot into his coat
pocket and DRAGGED out something
which dropped into my own hand. !
found myself staring down at the
skeleton key from Norman Earring
tcn's pocket. staring at il and wishing
yialenily ihat I had never seen the
damned thing.
Hos did you know It was there7-
-Cnilti- Michael's voice ives hurt,
not bitter. And Nike was no actor
o. vas he? The radio stunt
Gay rushed to his rescue. This is
ridiculous. ! was being . sap. That's
an"
50 you fhinkr' This time MichaePs
voice vas harsh. But Jimmie doesn't.
Look Il his face"
Held On. Nike" said. Il haven't
said . word. Answer me decently.
can't your"
He looked at me and suddenly his
face crashed into q grin ~AII right, I"
be said Il went shopping around.
Saw The broken lock on Jude's door
and just happened 70 think that If
ny father had q key IN his pocket.
we could be pretty sure that you were
right about his fali not being an acct
dent You see. II he was the guy who
crowned William. he must have got
Ten through that door after It was
locked. ] saw you examine Il after
ward. and 4 was all right the second
time you locked IT,
! didn't believe him. he was follow
ina ny own train Of thought--but |
didnt believe him Would anyone
ever be able 20 trust anybody after
this CHASTITY mess was over7
Good" The friendliness Of my
voice vas a little lesson in hypocrisy
al in itself That was what / was
thinking. We're letting ourselves get
too i1mpy."
Ca sprawied on q sofa. I'm
curetl- she sighed gustily. IF I ask
another question. wiring my neckl
VINO has q cigarette7"
Watching Michael's lighter fare. I
observed. "A few more questions and
vel all SO gaga. It's time this outfit
did . little relaxing"
But We didn't do any too well at Il.
There We sat. three people who 48
hours before would have sworn on a
stack Of Bibles that we would have
trusted each other til the end Of
time. And we hadn't-and didn't.
! WIS disirustful CT Nike. Gay had
precipilated the whole scene because
she shared the feeling And Mike, II
he we're innocent. could have taken
that key for only one reason-to pre-
vent The murderer's finding il. II he
had been sure that neither Of US was
The murderer. he would certainly
have told as Of bis discovery. II he
we're innocent-n he had been sure.
II ~ IT. The word beat a weary
rhythmical refrain in my head the
whiie We chatted aimlessly about
Little Jessie Blake and her meander-
ing husband. about the inadviSability
Of looking for a new apartment until
our plans for the summer were more
definite.
Mysteries with Trimmings
THE conversation dragged. dwin-
A died and finally expired. Coherent
thought. Il would seem. expired with
H. II I tried 10 think about the Skip
per's whereabouts. the probable guilt
q the Miilers obtruded itself into the
picture. II I tried to come to any con-
ciusion about the Millers. immedi-
niely thought Of Higgins. And so il
went. Out Of the long silence came
Michaei's voice.
They had trouble with Cook after
you went out Mysteries with all the
trimmings"
Jumped AZ A loophole for escape.