The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1939-04-29
CID HOME WEEK MURDER
by Phoebe Atwood Taylor


flies of the b a n d. e easy. an I
thought he was tryin' to helL. in
his way-put out the lamp. viii
you? But now Pm lookin' forward
to findin' Comrade Slade at an
early date. Tomorrow, probably,
while you're takin' down COVER
nors' speeches" n O.
But his chance to daily with
Mike Slade came much sooner
than that. - =
As Asey turned his roadster up
the lane leading to the Lea CHI
house, he noticed that the house
blazed with lights at every win
dow.
His headlights, as he shot the
car forward, picked up the figures
of three men on the front lawn.
Four men. The place was SWARM
ing.
Swinging his car so t h at the
headlights illuminated the front OF
the house. he shut off the ignition
and ran towards the group.
II was Slade-Slade was fight
ing someone. Slade was fighting ].
Arthur Brinley, and the trooper
who'd been stationed by che ga
rage was trying to separate them.
Zeb stood there helplessly. watch
ing, but not doing anything about
it all. Just. Asey thought, the way
he'd stood around when Jane
tainted. No great shakes in an
emergency, the baked beans heir.
Suddenly Slade stopped pound
ing Brinley's face and turned his
attention to the trooper. j. Arthur
hastily moved out of range and.
watched.
ssWhat is goin' on" Asey be-
gan.
THANK goodness" Sara appear
ed beside him. "And t1hat a tirue1
had getting out of that roomi
hadn't any idea where JEFF put the
key, a n d he couldn't remember,
but luckily he had one on his key
ring that"
Shut Up-Keep Quiet
"CARA, what's goin' on? Hey
trooper. stopl Slade. cut it out
hold it, you twoi"
Slade and the trooper, rolling
over and over in the grass. ignored
his commands.
what happened?" Asey asked.
Sara, STOP watchin' them so avid
an tell me what happened. will
your"
"Oh, don't really know" Sara
said. 1--WE just heard the screams,
and then the fight. | don't know
who's fighting who. or for what
really, I do think that the trooper
is getting far the best Of it, don't
your"
Asey strobe over to Zeb.
"What is this?"
81 d ont know" Zeb said.
"Everyone's all right. guess. Jane
and Eloise and JEFF are indoors.
Eloise," he a d d. d as an after
thought, "is h having mysteries.
Should ] call the doctor, or"
Asey snorted and turned to
Brlnley.r.z .-sFss 40 -.
"See here. ]. Arthur, what's the
meanin' Of this rumpus - oh.
what's the use?"
Brinley was putting and blow<
ing after his tussle with Slade,
making so much noise t h at he
didn't even hear Asey's question.
He was nervousiy dabbing a hand
kerchief at his lip, W hick was
bleeding freely, and each time he
saw the little spots of red, he puff
ed and blew more fervently.
Kay Thayer. who h a d parked
her little coupe n ext to Asey's
roadster. came over and stood be-
side him.
Whats the general idea?" she
asked. II mean. who's the trooper
spanking?"
"Slade." Asey said. "Don't ask
why. l don't know. No one knows.
| guess"
Aren't you going to take any
steps?"
Asey shrugged. 'Everyone's
havin' lots Of <un. Maybe II we
wait. someone1l get bored with
fightin'. or watchin', an let us in
on things. Nope, / guess I'd better
not wait at that. SHADES stagin' a
comeback"
He marched In between the two
men and did something - Kay
couldn't tell what because it all
happened TOO quickly. Somehow.
the trooper was On his feet, ap-
parently none the worse for the
scuffie. and Slade was fiat on his
back after q somersault through
the air. Asey stood over him.
shut up. Slade. Keep quiet or
I'll do it again. Trooper. what's
this about?"
"Him." The trooper pointed to
Slade. 81 heard someone, see, and
I thought I heard that laugh you
spoke about. So sneaked around.
but couldn't find anybody. Then
after a while / heard someone
moving, but / couldn't find any
body. And then ] heard foot
steps
But you couldn't find anybody"
Asey said impatiently. Il know.
Get to the point. viii your
We'll. finally ! heard someone
n t b e house scream. and then
everybody woke up. q n d people
started moving around. and COM
ing out. and then seen this guy
here. getting down the big maple.
He'd been up the tree. trying to
get int o = window. and / guess
some woman in the house seen him
and screamed. and then this fell
low he pointed to ]. Arthur, sshe
come up out of nowhere, and he
tackled the other fellow, and they
were hitting IL up and then tried
to stop EN-. and then he went for .
me. That's all