The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1940-10-02

OF bed and tlptOed 10 the open
door of the sitting room, where |
stopped for an instant to listen.
There was no further sound. Pres
emily. emboldened by the con-
tinued quiet, / reached a hand
into the room and switched on
the light.
There was no one there. l stood
in the doorway for moment,
getting my nerve back and feel
ing foolish. Behind me Felicia still
slept. Well. at least I could have
a cigarette.
l crossed over and turned the
key in the corridor door, reflect
ing that it was a little late for the
precaution, found my pocketbook.
which contained the remains of a
pack of cigarettes. and lit up.
Then / pushed the door TO the
bedroom nearly shut. selected
magazine from a stack on the ia
bic. and settled down TO read.
But not for long. l could not
keep my mind on the words
Thoughts of my own kept nag
ging me-thoughts of Mimi and
Colonel Pennant, of Julia and
Jeff and Sandra. Sandra, who had
written down what she knew
about several people and put it
in a safe place" Not just what
she knew about Mimi and jeff.
Several people.
Reducing it to simple terms.
Sandra was d blackmailer. She
had blackmailed Jeff into marry
ing her. She had tried to black
mail him into giving her the
Ozark property. which she be-
lieved to be valuable. A logical
question formed in my mind. Had
she been bldckmailing someone
else?
The answer brought me to my
feet. 1t was so obvious that | Won
dered why l had not seen it be-
fore.
She had been Matchmaking the
murderer!
Unbearable Excitement
IT WASN'T only to Jeff that she
had thrown the taunt that it
would do no good to kill her She
had recorded her knowledge and
put it 'in a safe place" And she
had thought that made her safe,
too.
What safe place?
1t seemed to me suddenly that
Sandra was in the room with me.
trying to tell me something. / be-
gan to shake with chill that was
not so much fright as the unbear-
able excitement of knowing that
l was on the verge of revela-
ton. This was something that con-
cerned me. l was as sure of it as
if | had seen her standing there,
pointing at me. When there was
no one else she had turned to
me, even though she knew ! was
Julia'S friend. Wasn't it plausible,
then. that, surrounded by strang-
erS, she had cached her secret
with me? She had not trusted me
with it-She could not do that
but she could leave me some clue
to it. If had the wit to recognize
the clue
l settled myself with another
cigarette, let the magazine slip to
the floor. and went over every
thing | could remember concern
ing Sandra since she had come to
my room Sunday night.
There was the shorthand note
book. of course. That leaped to
the attention. But in no sense
could it be considered a safe
place. Many people can read
shorthand Besides, it was too OBJ
vious. If it had been that impor-
tant she would never have left it
lying about.
A safe-deposit box?
Not here, I was fairly sure of
that. And the record she had made
must be a recent one. There was
no bank nearer than the next
town. and to the best of my be-
lief she had not been off the post
since Sunday except tOr the one
time she had gone with me to the
post Office, and then she had not
been out of my sight.
The post Office. She had mailed
TWO letters.
TO friends who knew Ivan."
she had said.
remembered those letters.
Thin, one-page affairs. Still-they
might have included the few
words necessary to incriminate
someone
And then 1 thought of the man.
Uscript
Little things which had no
meaning for me at the time they
happened required 10 me now in
a new light. Sandra asking to use
my typewriter and staying alone
IN my room all that afternoon
Her determination that the man.
uScript should be finished and
sent off that very day. The queS-
tons she had asked concerning its
destination and the time of its
probable return if rejected. And
the strange intentness with which
she had watched me seal and
stamp the envelope and hand il
through the window 20 the post
master.
What had the editor Sdid9
With feverish fingers l extract
ed the letter once more from my
bag and read it with new COM
prehension-
Sounds like two stories mixed
up"
My housecoat was lying in the
tumble of things in my overnight
case. crushed the letter back in
TO my pocketbook. snatched up
the robe and put it on. That man.
uscript. locked in my wardrobe
case in the next room. would bear
investigating.
s familiar chill crinnad me as