The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1938-10-13

II suppose" he suggested, chat
the next thing is to notify the
police about that woman's muir
der?'"
We'll" / said cautiously, ''it de-
ponds what portion Of the police
you're referring to. If we report to
the juge obstruction, he'll be
obliged to hold his inquiry right
away: IL we tell the co7n1aissaiTe,
| l1e,H want to know how we broke
into the villa, and may feel bound
| to arrest US for breaking and enter
ing -, 4 .'"5 " 2
"Fleuriot. them" he suggested.
"Fleuriot or no one" ! agreed.
The reception clerk at bis hotel
informed us that Fleuriot had not
been in all night. cit is possible Of
course" he added. shat the gentle
man has gone to view the confia-
gration!"
"What confiagration?" / echoed
stupidity, for the seemingly chronic
condition of the Esterels had for
the moment slipped my memory.
4 He raised a shocked eyebrow.
''The capel" he explained. at Is
possible that Monsieur has not OBJ
served? Villages are threatened,
boats are standing by to take of
the inhabitants of the coast towns,
and troops have been rushed from
Nice and even from Marseille to
fight the flames. It is a most. inter-
l. al -
placently. "but pity that it should
chance to coincide with the brdde-
RE. It will be difficult for our visi-
tors to witness both"
Back at Hugo'syl had almost for
gotten the fire. when saw a sight
that halted me. gasping. in my
track. The cape itself was inviS-
IDLE. covered with great pail Of
brown smoke that stretched half
across the sky, but every other
second a shower of fiery sparks
would shoot upward, followed by
a soaring tongue Of flame.
An hour later we took the road
again. and during that time the
whole town seemed to have wax.
ened to excited life. The main road
was crammed with jostling motor
cars, carrying sightseers to the
scene Of the fire, and through them,
demanding right of way with
shrieking horns, tore great lorries
packed with troops, shirt-sleeved
and steel-helmeted and armed
with pick and shovel to fight the
| flames.
Where Is Sher
a S we wormed and twisted our
\ way towards the Croisette,
signs Of the rival festivity began
to emerge. Flags and bunting fiat.
tered gaily on all sides and when
we came to the main street, it was
to find it closed to traffic by
whitepainted barrier.
Every shop had its stall outside,
piled with a strange tumble Of
merchandise. The street was a
seething mass of people, and as the
wine-shops were doing a brisk
trade, / imagined it wouldn't be
long before the fun became fast
and furious; but the Croisette was
still folded in an aristocratic
emptiness. and when we entered
the Carlton lounge, 1t was to find
Dunning in solitary possession.
He was haggard, crumpled, and
unshaven. and | felt a momentary
pang OF compunction that we had
dallied so long before joining him;
but after all, ] reflected, he had
known for some considerable time
that the girl was safe, and could
have made his own toilet, too. If he
had wished. Even as the thought
came to me though. his greeting
dispelled it.
"Where Is si1s7" he demanded
sharply. Holy smoked made sure
you'd bring her along with YOU"
gasped. what the devil do you
mean?" | demanded blankly. I'VE
left her here a couple of hours back
and told her to let you know she
was safe and well"
"She let me know all right" the
big man answered bleakiy. "Sent
me note saying she was all right
and would see me and tell me all
the news as soon as she'd cleaned
up. But no word came, and when
I went to see her, | found she'd
never got to her room; all that
greeted me was Cassandra Chubb.
running around like a demented
thing The only consolation / had
was that CaSSandra'd had sense
enough not to alarm the old man.
He broke on and wiped his wet
forehead. Gentlemen" he said
solemnly. "Ottilie Wills wrote me
that letter. standing here in the
vestibule. and stepped into the ele-
vator to 60 to her Cwn room, but
she never got there. and from that
moment to this. there's not soul
IN the hotel that's seen her again.
I've asked EN- all: hall porter, who
saw her come in with you; recep-
ton clerk. who gave her paper to
write her note: elevator boy who
saw her get out at her own floor:
and not one has set eyes on her
since. She didn't come down again.
either by the elevator or the stairs,
and short OF having q room to-
room search Of the two hundred
and fifty apartments in this hotel.
I'm at my wits end. All / could
hope for was that she might have
slipped out by some back ext to
join YOU"
She may have done that" / said
doubtfully. but Hugo broke Tins
SGood God. man, ske,d never doa
such thing. She promised me TO
stay u Der room. and I'm not dis
posed to doubt her word. She's
been kidnapped. or worse. by that Z
devil Cess. What are we waiting
torg" he finished harShly Come
on. Archiel We've got 70 see the