The Key West citizen., 1940-12-14
Chapter 20
Another Warning

NONE of which made it any
! y pleasanter to drop in on Eve
And when l saw her, decided
that Bessie's was indeed perfect
description. for she was halfway
out OF her negligee and d gener-
Gus amount of bosom was ex-
posed where her white satin slip
slid away. She was applying lip
stick by the aid of hand mirror
and thought looked a little nag
gard in the morning light.
ST always think lipstick is the
difference between nakednesS and
nudity" she observed. watching
out of the cor1er of her eye for
my reaction to this Witticiscn.
Il hope you slept we'll" l said
"Oh. yes" she replied. airily
lighting cigarette 81 thought
would finish my mystery story
before joining the merry throng.
How are the two lovebirds? Coo
ing all over the place?"
And then. as | only waited.
There was something | wanted
to talk to you about. but new that
you are here ! am not so sure
what should do"
well. you know best about
that" | said. feeling that wnat-
ever Eve wanted to talk over with
me would be more to her interest
tthan mine. anyway.
She gave me a strange. specula-
tive sort of look. IT'S about the
murder" she said.
THE murder?"
"Yes. Of course. you know Aunt
Maggie was killed by someone in
the house"
81 don't know it." l said. "She
was killed iE the house. of course.
but someone from the outside
must have done it."
Il think / know better than
that" said Eve. calmly blowing
mo" i said. It was all that l
could manage.
There is one point I haven't
quite figured out" she went on,
as | sat and stared at her. "Just
a little matter of conflicting evil
dence. one might say. That's why
] think now that | should wait.
] may be mistaken. Yes" "-flicking
ashes into the old Staffordshire
pin tray-'I may be altogether
mistaken"
| wouldn't have been a woman
If l had let it 60 at that. But
what do you know?" | asked.
That's the trouble" she said
The more think about t. the
more ! wonder Don't say any
thing to anybody until I've had
time to straighten things oLr in
my mind"
But if you really know any
thing" | sad 'it is your dutv to
tell the police. They'll be here
any minute. now"
Give me time. give me time"
she said grandiloquently. and |
decided the chances were she
didn't know ANYTHING but. was
just giving herself airs.
why don't you finish dressing
and come DOWN." / suggested.
Then, watching closely Cor her
reaction, We've all decided that
Aunt Maggie's death ties in with
the fact that she knew about +he
secret room. so we are staging
search for il"
Second Note
4 uecldeu / wasn't any gooo al
i reading faces. Ewes expression
did change, but if it meant any
more than interested surprise !
was unable to determine why
should anybody think .hat?" size
asked.
For lack of anything else }
think. suppose. The fact that she
learned about the secret room is
tie only unusual thing that hap
pened before her death. so we put
two and two together"
Without getting very far?"
We'll. we're still hoping. Bob
and Claire are working up from
the basement and Kirk and Alice
are on the third floor. Ynn can
take your choice and join either
couple. or work Independently as
] am doing"
81 think I'll begin at the bottom
and work my way up" she said.
her smile consciously edged with
malice.
"Oh. Eve. have a heart" ] re-
monstrated. Things are bad
enough already. Don't do any
thing you'll regret"
II never regret the things do"
she told me. IT'S only the things
! haven't done that ! regret"
] thought of a lot Of things to
say. but once again | kept my
mouth shut. There wasn't any use
trying to get anywhere with Eve.
Eve was-just Eve, and that was
all you could do about it. Except,
did make a mental reservation
to the effect that when all this
was over L was going to cut COM
pletely free from her. Never
again would she be able TO take
advantage of a situation as she
had in coming unlimited to Wis
terra Hall.
Remembering that earlier re-
solve to explore my own bedroom