The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1937-09-22

known" Neill could scarcely be-
lieve his ears. Was it possible they
were going to drop the whole
thing? No such luck. When he saw
Virgil Longcope's shrewd eyes and
active cigar he knew it wasn't 60
ing to be dropped.
Virgil was the only source of in
formation as to what was really
happening. Neill was unable to get
hold of him again, but the nature
of his activities leaked out of the
little office from time to time.
Mark Bonniger, it appeared, was
away from home, and they were
te1ePhoning all over for him.
Meanwhile Virgil had got the gov
ernor himself on the phone, and
had arranged that as soon as Bon
niger was found he should be
sworn in as a special officer. Thus
he got ahead of Mr.. Button Bill
lingS.
Virgil had a keen sense of the
value of publicity. He telephoned
the news to the Washington and
Baltimore newspapers and it was
said that the reporters were rae
ing down in a fleet of cars.
"I'm going to have this matter
handled right" Virgil was heard
to shout. I'm gonna put Absalom's
on the map!" Neill's breast tight
ened, hearing this. He dreaded the
reporters just now.
This Man Bonniger
NELL felt an anxious curiosity
IN concerning this Bonnige r
whose name was on everybody S
lips. His fate and Janet's depended
on the kind of man he proved to
be. BY keeping his ears open and
asking an occasional question, he
built up a mental picture of Bon
niger. %
A quiet man. A widower in his
middle forties, and the last rep
resentative of a family that had
been prominent in the county
since it was first settled. The Bon
nigers were not the sort of people
that money stuck to, and the FAM
lily estate had declined since the
Civil war, but Mark still had good
tobacco and corn land and blooded
riding horses. He lived alone in
his old house, "Lordship's Grace"
20 miles up river.
Mark Bonniger's neighborS re-
garded him with a mixture of
familiarity and awe. They felt that
he belonged to them though they
rarely saw him. He was a great
traveller and would be away for
months at time without anybody
knowing of it until he got back.
He never went around, but he had
good friends. Like Virgil. Virgil
thought the world of him. Virgil
had been trying for years to get
him into public life, like all the
Bonnigers before him.
Chiefly, however, the men spoke
of Bonniger's insight into char
acter.
"You can't fool Mark Bonnigerl
He will let you think you are fool
ing him, but he is fooling you. +.
take when he picked Mark Bon
niger to solve this case. Mark
Bonniger can see further into a
stone wall than most men," And
so on. And so on.
All this was disquieting. Neill
saw that in remaining on the spot
he had cast himself in a difficult
role. His thoughts turned to Janet.
He wished that he had her hid
den further away. Too dangerous
to try to move her now. He longed
to be with her.
Later he learned that Mark Bon
niger had been found and was be-
ing rushed to Annapolis so that the
governor could swear him in.
AS he was circulating in the
hotel lobby, picking up a word
here and there-it was only idle
gossip to the crowd, but to Neill
| it meant everything - he hap
pened to glance at the letter rack
behind the desk and was surprised
to see a letter in his box. Upon his
asking for it, a plain white en-
velope was handed him. Nothing
but the room number was written
on it. Inside he found a half sheet
of note-paper with note pencilled
in clerkly hand:
You been going round all
morning tUith blood on goHr
knee. You better tcGSh it out
before the Investigator comes.
1t was like an unexpected icy
shower. Taking care to keep his
face, Neil went quietly up the
stairs. In his room he stared at his
reflection in the mirror. II was
truel There was a brownish-red
stain on his left knee as big as a
quarter.
He must have got it when he
had knelt beside Fanning's body
in the cabin of the yacht. The
breecheS were an old, soiled pair,
and one spot more had escaped his
notice. The thought of his careless
ness brought the sweat out on him.
A trained Sleuth, il seemed, could
be as blind a fool as any crook
when it came 10 covering his own
tracks.
He slipped out Of his breeches in
order 10 wash them. An ugly aux-
lety made him set his Jaw. Who
had written this note? Il brought
back 20 mind the unexplained
happenings Of the night before.
VIC was the sharp-eyed individ-
3ual watching his every rnoveq Who
was there il AbSal0m'S who knew
SO much about him? And hoo
much more did he kaotcs
tsefy1iF1a. 1917. b. ErEssrs Fss4.srJ
Marx Boaniger takes charge sf ne
lrees ise ten. tomorrew.