The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1939-06-02
OLD HOME WEEK MURDER
by Phoebe Atwood Taylor

| an Lane an Brinley said he called.
'em, but we looked into the calls
He made'em enroute, not from his
house. And there you are"
Maybe, Kay said, "but the
ielly-the beachplum ielly7 What
about that?"
Asey smiled. "After the judgin,
that photographer took all the
prize stuff. the vegetables an pre-
serves an all. to another room ia
make pictures Of EN-. B ert b as
prize Jelly was among the stuff.
He an Weston carted the stuff
there, so as to take the pictures
with the background Of the big
banner an the cups - Weston
wouldn't let the cups be moved.
The photographer, General Phil
brick remembers. had on his rain
coat. Later. he took il of. He left
Bertha's jelly in his rain coat
pocket"
"What Of it," Kay said.
Weston, in hurry to see Eloise,
grabs the photographers rain coat
for his own. They're most dupli-
Gates. In the kitchen here. Eloise,
at the head of the stairs, throws
the shears at him when she realizes
sometimes happenir'. They strike
the rain coat pocket. Pop goes the
jelly. We got Bucks coat, where
Weston cleaned it up. Buck didn't
notice it, but Lane found enough
to prove our point. Weston has to
have prize jelly. So he goes down
cellar, grabs jar of jelly from the
preserve closet--an' later puts the
labels from Bertha's Jar on il.
Takes it back to the show. Been
all right, If Bertha hadn't given
me the jelly as present. s.sf
Mathematical Minded, s1
"HoW'D you know the jelly
L 4 came from hera?" Kay asked.
II thought am thought" Asey
said honestly, "an' the only person
I could think of who could make
as bad jelly as that was EloiSe.
remembered the preserves in the
cellar, an hot-footed it UP here,
an found what was supposed to be
Bertha'S was mate to the stuff in
this cellar. Took little connectin'
but it proved someone who had to
do with the judgin', or the town,
had been here. Wasn't the photog-
rapher. He spent the rest Of the
afternoon at the hall. = could place
Brinley, an JEFF. Bout that time,
Paterson was sure of one or the
other of you. But ! could place you
that's the advantage Of havin'
wives. Weston started out to guide
one of the historical tours, but he
eased out on account Of Town
Stuff He came here, an then re-
joined his tour. An r'member one
more thing about Weston's bein' a
bachelor. He wouldn't see the error
of switchin' jelly, like Brinley or
you, JEFF"
81 still don't see," JEFF said. "But
yes, ! do too. The more he pro-
tested that this trouble would have
to come to light, and ruin the week,
and the town, the more il spurred
you on, Asey, and the rest, to keep
it quiet. And then he had EloiSe to
play the trump card, and say that
her mother would have wanted it
kept undercover, to help the town.
He bullied us into silence with his
dolefulness. And he was the last
person you'd suspect. ASey, too. BY
the time things got out. he would
have been gone. He's a planner.
Mathematical minded-why did
he plant so much against Jane?"
Asey smiled. "Jane," he said,
when Weston first come here, did
he specifically announce that he
come to call on Eloise?"
why. no. but"
'You thought so, but he come
to see you" Asey said. "Yes, that's
so. Up to his house, we found four
pictures of you. He come to see
you. but he got Eloise. Does that
clear some of that up? You natu-
rally turned him over to Eloise. an
she done the rest. She hated you,
an guess by then, he did, too.
An then you want to r'member,
on them chases we had, on foot
an by car. he-he thought like
Mayo. pretty much. An today,
when seen him up to the ball
park, runnin' around. an winnin'
the tug of war, an all, I-well,
there you are. Weston b'gungit an
Eloise finished it, an him. Town
money, an lot of hate"
Sunday nights fireworks wound
up Billingsgate's Old Home Week.
Asey. little apart from thu
crowd, watched the big cross with
all the little crosses around il melt
out of sight. Upjohn,s band struck
up "Billingsgate Beautiful" and
Madame Meaux, with the expires.
sion OF one tried beyond endur-
ance but none the less determined
to endure still more, began the
song. She sang 1t with Infinite care,
and for the first time, Asey heard
most of the words.
Where e'er the wondering foot
may roam,
On foreign land or sea,
Our thoughts turn ever more TO
Home,
oh BiIlin0S0nfe IA thee -