The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1939-12-07
Chapter 16
Letter From Chicago


Letter From Chicago
WILL forgive you for keeping
this mystery from me-" Tuck
solemnly told Michaels father, ION
condition that you use your keen
and agile brain in solving my little
private mystery. Michael can't.
He's too dumb. I can't. It has a
mechanical bent that is quite be-
yond my poor feminine mind.
Bunny can't. I asked her. So it's
up to you"
Certainly" John Forester
agreed. "And what is it then, my
dear?"
Its my necklace" Tuck said.
Where is it? It's gone"
"Gone?"
GONE. Disappeared. Michael
says the insides of the pipes are
smooth. And even l can see that if
you drop a small and slippery
thing down the inside of a large
pipe it would have a tendency TO
land at the bottom. But it didn't"
Her father-in-law surveyed her
from beneath buShy brows. "You
are not talking 20 Michael" he re-
minded her. whose mind works in
scatter Drained fashion. am a
bit slow and ponderous, perhaps;
but ! feel that I could do with a
wee little more detail"
Tuck explained.
ITS not in the pipe? In the
BASEMENT"
mo"
mo"
"Well, then" he said, and settled
comfortably back in his chair, ''it
must be somewhere in between"
Very simple indeed" said Mi
chael.
Tuck sighed. "I suppose it's gone
forever" she said. II can't quite
see us pulling the house to pieces
for string of corals. 1t will break
my heart to lose it." She looked
sideways at her father-in-law. 81
thought perhaps it had found out
where the diamonds were hidden
and gone to keep them company"
she said.
"Humpf. DiamondS?"
Diamonds" she repeated firm
ly. You may all laugh if you wish,
but / am more and more firmly
convinced that the diamonds
Professor Murchison'S diamonds,
are hidden somewhere in this
house, and that someone knows it
and Is looking for them. Higgins,
probably. Although, even though
he and his FIVE thousand dollars
sound very very suspicious, I don't
think he has sense enough to hang
pots and pans on the doors. It's
too bright an idea for Higgins.
Somebody else, Father Forester"
Mrs. Murchison," Bunny muir
INJURED. Tuck seized upon the idea
instantly.
Mrs. Murchison sounds reason.
oble," she said. 81 wouldn't believe
anything she said anyway. Pm
sure she's a double-crosser or
whatever you call people like that.
And think she read The Battered
Bride herself. 1t shows the kind
of a mind she's got"
IF we were sure it was murder"
Tuck went on after a reflective
silence, eff we were positive he
was murdered, it would be SIM
pie"
Very" Bunny agreed dryly.
WED just stand the whole campus
in a row and say Eenie Meenie.
Any of those people there at
Deanes' might be guilty. Any of
them"
"Oh, Bunny, not Mrs. Deane.
Not Mrs. Deane, Bunny"
Just A Mistake
MO. Not Mrs. Deane. Unless she
~ did it with an electric toaster
or a sewing machine. From the
looks of her she has one or the
other in her hand all the time"
Il bet he's the kind of husband
that simply makes a dreadful fuss
ek0OAt q OdItOi1 OClALS OAAs
Michael looked at Tuck. She put
her chin in the air, and averted her
face. you seem to be maligning
me-" he said bitterly. ~ said almost
nothing about my blue shirt. Moth
ing"
81 wasn't even thinking of you,
Michael Forester. was thinking
about Mr.. Deane and those awful
squinty eyes that you can't see,
and the sarcastic things he says to
you when you play the wrong
card. And didn't you see that he
didn't even have the same salad
that we did? She had to fix some
thing very special for him"
we had lobster, and he had
fruit" Bunny contributed.
Michael groaned. "Just because
a poor man wears glasses and has
a weak stomach. ! tremble to
think of you two being on the po-
lice force. suppose you'd hang
all the cross-eyed men just be-
cause"
"Well, of course" said Tuck with
one of her lightning changes. eve
aren't sure. Maybe none of them
are. Maybe it's somebody else"
"And maybe it isn't anybody al
all" Michael added.
Michael, such nonsense. What
about the diamondse"