The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1938-06-06
Chapter Nine
News OF Octag0n House


MARINA never mentioned
VI Cape Cod" Tim went on
Never. I thought she came from
the Middle West. She called her.
self Marina Fern. Not Frye, OF
Lorne. Fern, like the plant. She
was modelling at an art school !
went to It night. Jael- Lorhe was
in one Of the classes, by the way,
but didn't know that then. Or that
they happened to be married.
Those were points she didn't bring
up. Well, / fell for Marina, and not
even Grams japing snapped me out
of it. In fact, didn't emerge till the
day / found $500 of mine, and all of
Grams jewelry, missing from our
apartment. That emerged me-"
"Why?" Asey wanted to know.
Most anyone might steal"
yes, most anyone might, except
that Marina was the only person
who knew about that money of
mine. I'd sold some drawings
major miracle, / never sold any be-
fore or afterwards. And I'd told
Marina about it, and how I'd hid
den it, and how / was going to take
Gran on a bust of a trip. Gran
didn't know anything about It"
"What'd you do2p
For three days / detected"
Timothy said. Marina had disap-
peared, no one at her boarding
house knew where she'd moved.
The third day. | found a key shop
where the man had made dupli-
cate of our key for her, and the
time he made it checked with
Marina's going and coming to our
place one day. She'd apparently
taken Grams key from the hall
table, gone, had the key made,
came back and left Grams in its
place. Carlton = that's Grams to-
bacco beau-he found most of the
jewelry in a downtown pawn shop,
and CALAMITY redeemed it. We
never could have. At art school,
shortly after, someone displayed a
post card from England. X marks
our room, wish you were here,
Marina and Jack And | discovered
they'd been married a couple of
years. That week ack was award
ed a prize for some splendid work
happened to be copies from some
stuff OF mine, with lot of polish
ing and embellishments. Stuff |
was saving up for a scholarship
competition. Marina, someone said,
had helped him lot. I thought so.
too"
Il get" Asey said, "the idea. An
you didn't do anythin' about herr"
There wasn't anything to be
done, then.
did you keep track Of the
Lornes?" Asey asked.
sYes, through friends of theirs |
knew. When they returned to New
York, took Gran and Carlton and
paid Marina a call She was wear
ing Grams diamond rings. II was
a splendid interview. ] held her,
and Gran removed the rings. Then
Carlton said gently we'd like the
$500, and the money paid for re-
deeming the lewelry. She was
frightened to death, and wept and
walled and said they were penni-
less, and Carlton said, very well.
the police could take a hand. She
had $500 cash, and so we took that
and then snatched a few pictures
off the walls and called it a day
after much rhetoric from Gran and
me as to what physical damage she
would suffer If she crossed our
paths again. We discovered later
that the original stones had been
removed from the rings, but by
that time tie Lornes had fitted
again. That, in brief. is why we
don't like Marina
"An' when did you discover she
was here?n
Tonight. when we came back
from the movies. all Gods children
roanaed the grounds aud vicinity of
Octagon House and a woman
named Hobbs was having Mysteries
and saying she'd just come back
for her pocketbook. but she knew
all the time, she knew, she knewl
And police raced around. and FINAL
" we got someone TO tell us the
trouble. They said Marina Lorne
had been killed. she lived in the
Cape Cod cottage at the corner, be-
yond. Gran asked who did 1t, and
they said her sister, Pam Frye.
That was the first we knew of Pam
and Marina being related"