The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1940-09-21

lnTOuSn On my way 10 the cOTEl-
dor.
l almost fell over her.
She was lying on her face,
nearly in front of the corridor
door. as if she had pitched
through il and Someone had
closed It behind her: Someone
who had left her lying there in
her blood-soaked white robe. the
handle of a butcher knife vertical
between her shoulder blades.
A horrible sound tore from my
throat. l had TO step over her to
get to the door. to open it and
totter out into the hall Gerald
was coming, running toward me
on quick. light feet, his face
white, his eyes hard. / managed
10 wait until he got TO me, then ]
tainted abirctly in his arms.
Under Arrest
Jeff was put under arrest that
- morning. Mimi had called me
up to insist that spend the rest
of my visit under their roof, and
when Julia came for me at eleven
o'clock, she was white and wild
eyed with news.
Dads orders" she said tragi-
cally as I got into the car. "And
Kay, he really thinks JEFF did it,"
Does that mean he's been
turned over to the civil authori-
ties. or put in the guardhouse.
or what?"
Neither one. They don't put of
ficers in the guardhouse, as a rule,
and the civil authorities can't
come on post and arrest a mem
Der of the garrison. Dan could
have put JEFF in arrest in quar-
tiers, which would simply have
meant he was on his honor not to
leave his rocciS, but for some rea-
son he's put him in the prison
ward of the hospital. with guard
over him"
HE doesn't think JEFF is in
sane?" asked startled.
Il don't think So"
"On what charge was he arrest
ed?"
Murder, I suppose-or maybe
he hasn't been charged yet; I
wouldn't know about the red
tape. But, Kay, he didn': do it!
knotD he didn't. tell you, know
jeff. He's not cruel and mean; he's
kind. He's got a conscience-too
much conscience. 1 used to tell
him. He takes everything terribly
to heart. He couldn't murder any
body. even if they deserved it. He
just couldn't!"
She was almost crying.
But Julia. your father must
have reasons - and think how
lucky jeff is"
Lucky"
eyes. lucky. Suppose he was be-
ing bullied by a lot of hard boiled
policemen and a district attorney
who were determined to get a
confession. At least he's among
friends. Your father is fond of
him. He'll see that jeff gets a
square deal"
She turned her eyes from the
road to give me a reproachful
look.
you. too" she accused. "You
think he's guiltyl"
No. don't know what the evil
dence is against him. | hardly
know him; all | know is what
you've told me. l hope he isn't
guilty. But if he isn't. Julia-who
isl"
81 don't know" she said slowly.
"And don't much care as long as
jeff isn't. can't help it if that
shocks you. You haven't seen, as
| have. what she's done to jeff.
Even by dying she gets him into
trouble. / wonder No, she
couldn't have done it herself,
could she? I mean, so he'd pay for
it ! guess I'm thinking pretty
wild"
81 thought you said she loved
him"
Maybe l was wrong about that.
Or maybe something made her
change. made her hate him in
stead. That black eye. Kay; that
was malicious. She could have
said she was i'll. And to show it
off like that, theatrically-"
"She could have at least dis
5suiSed it with makeup" admit
ted. thinking of that for the first
time. "She must have had some
experience making up for the
stage"
"She had an elaborate makeup
kit. saw it when she unpacked.
And some stuff you paint on with
brush. to cover blemiSheS. There
was a little birthmark on her
forehead, and when she wore her
hair a certain way it showed. I
tell you, she did it on purpose"
Julia! You don't suppose it
tUdS make-up-I mean. that she
deliberately painted on a black
eye?"
No" she said slowly. THAT
wouldn't fool anyone on close in
spection. Especially - especially
when they examined the body"
We were silent for few minu-
uteS. was thinking over what
she had said about not caring who
the murderer was. so long as il
wasn't jeff | thought of S-ndra
lying there in my room u tn
knife in her back: and | knew
that it mattered vitality to all OF
us to learn who had placed il
there.
"But, 1Julia'- somebody killed
her, And whoever il was has got
to be punished. Maybe we didn't
like her, very well. But you
didn't see her. / wish | could for
get il. She was young-she had a