The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1939-05-11
OLD HOME WEEK MURDER
BY Phoebe Atwood Taylor

AtW000 aayAVG
I an where all the dogs, includin'
Amos the wonder dog, get their
i weekly wash. A nice. safe place.
Sure"
II never thought of that" Kay
said honestly, u suppose you
i would at least 'hurl it of BIT"
/ "At least, you'd 60 round to the
! other side where no one battles. an
i 1t makes OF into the real mud, an,
4 you'd pitch the gun as far as you
! could send it onto the mud bottom.
i Now. climb up on this stump. Can
you see the pond?".
/ '"Of course ! cant"
"An' you can see the house?"
4 I'm the hollow? Yes. For that
matter, / can see the ocean, and
the lighthouse, and two coalers off
shore, and the Town Hall tower,
and the belfry of the First and only
1 Congregational church. What Is
this, a course in landmarks?"
Exactly" Asey said, land you
are Jane Warren. III give you an
hour to work out the shortest am
most direct route, an the most
;passable, from Randall,s In the
hollow to the ice house. There are
two paths. You take 'em an get
familiar with 'em, an then wen
try a little experiment. Oh, it's
rainin' some more. You mind? If
| you don't want to do. this"
Il only get about half the idea"
Kay said, "but I'm willing to do
anything that might help"
"This win. Now, this is your at
fair. Personally, I think the lower
path 'is-saner. If you want to make
detours, or anything, you can"
II won't need an hour for that"
"Oh, yes, you will. You pick your
path" Asey said. 'an' learn it.
Think how this'll help you. Lo-
cal color. Bay'brfes. scrub pines,
checkerberries." he picked a leaf
and 'chewed, it, "nice Cape air, an
a first-hand acquaintance with
Cape rain"
local Color
"A T the end of an hour Kay re-
"A turned to where tAsey sat on
the stump.
Her. legs were scratched with
brambles and one shoe string had
broken, her face was .srhudged and
her red hair was soaking under her
beret.
"Add local color" she observed,
mosquitoes, red ants, two snakes,
three skunks-happily not very
'observant-and splendid assert
ment of insect life and iprickers.
How did the early settlers take tit"
I've always wondered" Asey
told her. ''When you've rested,
we'll go back an try this out"
Lane greeted them with little
enthusiasm.
'Tt's the'shofgun The Warren girl
Bought with that check of Pretty
mans" he said. II called Boston
and checked on it."
That bears out your IDEAS"
Asey said.
Yes. Ifound it. It was dug in, like
you said. What've you been
doing?"
II just been sittih,," .Asey said.
Kay, she's been inyestigatin' our
local flora an fauna"
what are you up TOT"
WELL" Asey said, this is a con-
tinuatioh of our tifnin' project
how you pick tIp these words! My
cousin Syl has fakih' to CALM his
garbage hole a refuse disposal
project. Well. Lane, Kay's goin' TO
stand by the apple tree, an say
Boom, an then she's goin' to pre-
tend to dig two shells Unjust for
fun-an' then she's goin'' TO run to
the Ice house at the pond, dump q
gun in, an rush back to the hotise.
In eight minutes I'm goin' to bang
the knocker. Let's see If she can be
back there to answer. Now look,
well time this shell diggin', too.
Let's see what happens.
Lane hesitated. ,sBut Jane knew
the ground" he said at last.
Kay prob-ly knows It just as
well, an she's got the advantage
of not havin' any shotgun carry,
an daylight, an the Disadvantage
of light rain. That ought TO even
it all up. Set, Kay? Got your watch
ready, Lane? You start her off,"
Lane gave the signal, and Kay
darted to the garden. where she
dug two imaginary. holes, inserted
two imaginary shells, and covered
them over with a brushing motion
Of her hand. Then she turned and
set off toward the pond.
Asey and Lane walked over to
the muse.
Guess you're right" the latter
said. You seldom aren't right. but
darn it, no one ever solves a case
of this kind, andI got carried away.
Why the plant?"
Find out someone who doesn't
like Jane" Asey said. AM
must tell you about Brinley."
Lane interrupted him in the
middle of his story.
Eight minutes are up. Go on"
Asey had time to finish his story
before Kay painted back.
Eleven minutes over time"
Asey moved aside to let her sit on
the front step. Are you done up?"
"Give me acigarettei" Kay said.
II haven't done anything so siren
uous since ! played hockey in my
youth--isn't 1t amazing, the way
you get TO lose the use of your legs
as you grow older? Anyway, Asey.
j went the shortest way and I was
like to break my neck went so
fast, and here I am. Even If you
take time OF for the digging proc
ess, I'm still way behind Saren't II"
| scoDrtoht. 1887