The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1938-06-30

us think the ambergris was burned
up in it. What about that side,
Asey?"
II thought of 1t, but don't like
it." Asey told her. IF he'd have
sWiped It, he'd have beaten it and
not passed for the fire to call atten-
ton to things. Firm the barn then
might Of lost him too much time,
and of course, how an when could
anyone of got the ambergris away,
with that mob in the woods, later"
perhaps that's why Shorty and
O'Malley are missing. Perhaps
they saw the man take ii away.
and perhaps they went after it"
wait an let me get Strengthened
out" Cummings said. Aaron put
it in the barn. Someone else-call
him B, removes il. Someone else
call him C-hunts for it. an can't
find it, an so he burns the barn.
And now you think there's still
another person, D, who's respon-
sible for the violent billings that
went on. Well, that leaves you with
three people, or one person three
times, or-oh, it's beyond me! And
suppose the ambergris was taken
from the barn--where was it
taken tor"
mot very far" Asey said.
"And who did it," Pam demand
ed. who is this B, and who's c.
and who's d? Who are they?"
who" Asey returned, "did your
sister Marina tell about the amber
girls before she was killed."
Il don't think Marina told a
SOUL" Pam insisted. Il truly don't.
She was out to get that for herself.
And supposing that she did tell
someone. She and the person
would have teamed up and
whisked it of long before | got
over there to the garage at ten
thirty. And"
wait" Cummings said. wait
another second. Suppose for the
sake of the argument that Marina
told someone about the ambergris,
and suppose the person decided to
get it for himself. And with the
ambergris IS a motive, suppose
they killed Marina, and"
Good An Thwarted'
you can stop supposing right
! there" Pam said. IF someone
killed her for the ambergris, why
in the world didn't they take it
after they killed her, Friday night?
Why did they leave it for met"
How do you know they did
leave it for your" ,Asey asked.
"You left it in the garage because
you didn't have any way of re-
movin' it. It's perfectly possible
that the person who killed Marina
was in the same position. You've
hunted ambergris all your life, but
you never thought about trans
portation problems. Marina could
have been killed for the ambergris,
and the person could Of been
stumped on the transportation
angle just the same way. Now,
let's suppose"
mo-" Cummings said, "don't
lets suppose. Let's stop supposing.
/ can suppose up to a certain point
beautifully, but from there on into
higher mathematics, my mind
doesn't function. And my minds
had enough. Except just this
suppose that the person who killed
Marina didn't know anything
about the ambergris at all, and
suppose they killed her because
she put Lorne up to doing those
caricatures in the mural. That's
what everyone in the town OF
Quanomet firmly believes, any,
way. Asey. do you think she was
killed for the ambergris, or be-
cause of the caricatures?"
Asey shrugged.
"You must have some opinion,
Cummings said.
Seems to me-" Asey remarked,
shat $4,000 worth Of ambergris
lis a sounder motive than Just bein'
mad at bein' painted into pic
tpEe. You could fix the picture up
some dark night with a can OF
paint or a bit Of paint remover. In
fact, you could chip off a little OF
the offendin' face each time you
went for your mail. But with i
person like Marina, / don't think
you could put your finger on one
special thing an call that the mo-
tive. She seems TO have been the
sort who inspired people with mo-
tives for murder"
Pam sighed. That's true
enough" she said. "Oh, dear, this
gets so complicated--Asey, IL this
person found the ambergris in tue
bin, what did they do with is"
Il don't think they got il away
very far Asey said, aan' I donf
think they'll get far with ii tryin'
to sell it. Because l did some
phonin' last night. I'd ought "a
have, before. There's only q limited
number OF people who'd buy that
stuff. II anyone has managed "a
get ii away, and IL they manage "a
get It 70 Boston or New York,
they're like TO find themselves
good an thwarted."
@Asey," Pam said, "this is In
sanel Consider If they didn't GET
il away, it's still here. or here.
ahoufSl But you've gone over the
whole vicinity, hunting for those
trooperS-hundreds OF people have
and If the ambergriS had been
around. you or someone would
have found II. But you didn't. And
il you ask me, the ambergris was
burned up last night. and II II cot
re-Stolen before the FIRE. then It's
hundreds Of miles away. Must be.
AS far as I'm concerned. the am
bergris IS gonei"
fcsswsFas. 1853. g1ssss 2swesS Tsyssvl
Temerrsw: Trailing the trseperN.