The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1939-01-10
THE ARMY. POST MURDERS
nothing dislocated or anything
? VIRGINIA HnnaOn

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"Adam-hurt?"
"Oh no, no, no, no, no! Dear me,
how clumsy am. Not Adam. And
not hurt. Charlie, ] mean. We
found him, you know, Flower and
], behind the shed at the target
range. Barney had struck him.
Anyway, he was knocked out. And
nothing to be ashamed of, either,
with Barney so much bigger and
all, and Charlie not expecting it,
besides. Because while he was sup
posed to tDatch Barney, of course
he thought that meant guarding
Barney from the murderer and
not the murderer from Barney
that is. of course Barney t1as the
murderer; but what I mean to say,
Charlie didn't dream that. and I
think Charlie was lucky it was
only just a good clean blow. -"
For once in a lifetime she ran
completely down. And in the mo-
ment of silence Lou Orpington ap-
peared in the doorway. She had
forgotten her toothbrush, and
Mary Shaw was with her, and if it
was all right they'd just come in
and wait until the men got through
with whatever they were doing;
and oh no Vaguely, they'd had
a bite of breakfast-they hadn't
come for thdt-well, just a cup Of
coffee, if one were urged.
In the end they all came to
breakfast-a casual but adequate
meal for those who wanted it, pre-
sided over by Colonel Wright with
as much charm and dignity as if
the guests had just returned from
a drag hunt instead of that vastly
more grim morning pursuit Of
man. 80.
We Were Dense
NEVERTHELESS, there were
1 Y few empty plates when we es-
capped from the table into the liv-
ing room, and there was no small
talk when we had found places to
sit-only questioning eyes fixed on
Adam.
He had changed to gay uniform
and was his old, Immaculate self;
but he was pale, and there were
ghosts in his eyes.
you'll be glad to learn that the
chances of Anne's recovery are
better every hour" he said grave
ly from his stand in front of the
cold fireplace.
"How did he do it, Adam"
someone asked softly.
Adam glanced toward his COL
onel.
"You may as we'll tell them
now" said the older man.
Adam said, as if continuing a
previous conversation, "We were
all dense. We might have seen it
hours ago but for the fact that
Barney was dancing with Anne
and there were no powder marks
around the wound. That was his
alibi, and we did not question it.
He, of us all, could not shoot the
girl with whom he was dancing.
"The Stabbing-yeS. His alibi
there was weak. He had just start
ed back after sugar for the Shaws'
coffee when the lights went out
50 he said. Yet Shaw drank his
coffee and remarked afterward
that he wondered what was wrong
with it. You didn't drink that cof-
fee in the dark, did you, Shawn"
"That's fact" admitted Shaw,
his face long with chagrin. at was
hot too-thought it would never
COOL"
'Then about the light in the
dressing room. He could see that
wrap on the rack when he passed
the door. He had to 60 out the stage
entrance, come into the dressing
room and pass the open door to
reach the stairs. To give himself
a margin of safety he wanted the
light out, and he had to turn it out
from the ballroom side. There was
not much risk to that-he didn't
know Lou was in the wash room
and the ShaWs were some distance
away in the lounge. But in case
either of them saw him pause by
that door he invented the fiction
of having heard something. The
woman moaning was good touch,
because that came later, and it
strengthened his alibi.
"The weapon was in his car. He
had taken it when he stopped by
here to find Elizabeth. The outside
door of the dressing room was
unlocked, wasn't it, Kay?"
eyes. I locked it afterward,
when we were searching for the
knife"
"He went in that way, snatched
the wrap from the hanger, reached
the balcony and saw Kay. He had
to do some quick thinking then
there was no way to get past her
without being seen. So he stepped
into a vacant room, threw a rolled
up blanket on the floor, groaned
and waited for her to come. You've
all heard the straight of that. Then,
when he had done what he came
to do, he short-circuited the lights
Copyright. 1888. viroinia HomsonJ
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