The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1939-01-13
Chapter 50
You're Coming Back

Il DON'T think he meant her to
= be suspected. The eleven
o'clock alibi was to take care Of
that. He took the gun because 1t
was smaller caliber than his own
"a service automatic would have
inflicted a larger wound, one that
he might not have been able to dis
guise. Later, when he stopped by
for her and took the kris, he had
not yet learned that she was alone
at eleven o'clock. Notice the care
he took, later, to establish an alibi
for her for the time of the stab
bing. True, he established his own
at the same time, but he carried il
a little farther than that; which
makes me think that in the mean
time he had questioned her casu-
ally and learned OF Armies late
return to quarters"
! was silent for a time, remem-
bering little things that should
have told me it was Elizabeth he
wanted all along. The cigarette
butts in the kitchen sink: Barney
on the polo field. thinking Adam
was dead, carrying him in his arms
across the field straight to Eliza
beth. the woman be depended on;
and Elizabeth turning back her
cuffs. recognizing the appeal.
I told Adam about that. and he
nodded soberly.
There were other things too, /"
he said "His reason for breaking
with Anne-jealousy Of Wheeler
That was too thin. And besides
Shaw had already said the Wheel
er episode was after she started
going with Charlie, And the fact
that he stopped by for Elizabeth
on his way to the hospital-hoW
could he have known she was there
unless he had made the appoint
ment? Odd that she shouldn't have
suspected something when he
failed to keep it. =" .l.
"She was in love with him." !
said rather bitterly.
For mile or two he seemed to
60 far away from me, wrapped in
his own thoughts. had told him
about Elizabeth and Barney, about
Armies equivocal denial that Anne
was her daughter, about her judg-
ment Of Barney as "a wrong 'un."
"Adam-that notebook. It was a
queer thing"
He came back slowly, from a
q VIOnY1NnVNf
was a strange look on his face.
He missed so much" he said
absently. 'But sometimes he. stum-
hled on something. :"
He reused, went on in a firmer
voice. 81 said there was motive
there, didn't I? And there was in
a way. There was the theme of the
family skeleton. What do you
notice first about people? About
other women, let's say"
Hands," replied promptly.
THAT could be a vanity"
Adam began. 49,
at isn't. It's an inferiority. I'm
always breaking my nails when
type and getting cigarette and car
DOAl StdAA1Ss GAl0 NY u1SC1S dA
long and too broad at the tips"
or a sense of inadequacy," he
finished with a slight smile. my
self, ] always know who gets the
most letters at the. club. Hardly
anyone ever writes to me-" he
added sadly.
I'm Sorry. Charlie
I'LL write to you, Adam. if you
4 want me to-"
He beamed. II was hoping you'd
say that. :. Barney's sense of in
adequacy was an integral part oil
bis family skeleton. He kept argu-
ing to himself that others had
them, only, like his, they were in
the closet. He noticed everything
that might tend to prove his ar
gunent = Lou Orpington's child
lessness, which he traced to a FAM
lily faint; Mary Shaw ugly duck.
ling sister that he had never seen;
Anne,s mother, who was always
hidden. And there we come ur
against something else. more per
tinent TO his crimes. -.
u believe his interest in horti-
culture, in horse breeding, was all
tied Up with the same sense of in
adequacy. It is possible. in plants
and animals, to breed out weak
ness by adding fresh, strong stock
Barney dreaded his family weak.
ness and was tantalized by the un-
certainty as to whether it was he
reditary. He was handsome. vain
Of his, looks. his strength. Such
men always want children. ! be-
heve he was obsessed with a de-
sire to found his own line of such
inlpeccable heritage. such a donai-
fl1ht heritage, on the mothers side
that the risk of weakness cropping
out in the children would be great
Introduced. Hence his evaluation
OF Elizabeth as very sound Hence
bis suspicion Of Anne, who SHE'D
away from discussion Of family
traits-not because Of Mrs. Carewe
who Is only a tinid old woman,
but because. after she'd been here