The Key West citizen., 1940-12-23

on earth had I done with it? Oh,
yes, the telephone closet.
Indy" I said, as she passed
hot Sally Lunn mullins which
were only a shade too brown on
top. "aSk Bessie to step in here
when she can"
Bessie came, and as l whispered
instructions about the telephone
wire her skittish glances at Eve
made II all too plain that here
was her choice as number one
candidate for the electric chair.
l wondered if she could be right.
If Eve. now being so conscious
ly charming 10 Mr.. DOdsOn. really
possessed guilty knowledge, as
she had hinted. And if that
knowledge involved someone else
now seated at this table.
With these thoughts in mind,
l was more than a little startled
when Mr.. DOdson. seated on my
left, asked in a low tone if all
our guests were assembled in the
dining room.
YES" l told him, that's as you
know. is Eve Benedict on your
left. On her other side IS Bob
Dunbar and just below Bob IS
Claire Harper, seated on the right
of nv husband. who is at the end.
On Bills left is Kirk Pierce and
between Kirk and Mr.. Marshall IS
Alice Dunbar. Bob's sister"
Thank you" he murmurcd,
that will help to give me a little
preliminary lineup on the situa-
ton"
Lineup. indeed" carolcd Eve,
who apparently had overheard
Mr.. DodsOn's remark. He is the
most amazing man. Sally. Do you
know, he just now told me the
color of my hair and eyes?
Mr.. DO5son chucklcd That is
fairly simple" he declared. Il
don't always hit. of course But
radio tests. for instance. have
shown that the voice has a great
deal to do with personality and
cOlOring. In one of these tests
listeners were asked to describe
speakers they had never seen, and
a majority of the descriptions
were fairly accurate. As | recall,
listeners have also identified
photographs by voices. with fair
average on the credit side"
By way of making conversation
when Eve turned again to Bob. |
asked Mr.. Dodson. In a case such
as this. would ordinary table talk
be-what shall | say-reveal,ng?"
| had not really sought Infor-
nation and the gravity of his re-
ply r2thcr gave me pause. Yes"
he said. sometimes"
But no. | asked. my entire
attention NV engaged, and | low
cred my vC.ce quite unnecess2ri-
ly. for Eve was being vivaciOus
for the benefit of the table at
large Is it a note n the voice?
Fright, desperation, defiance
what is It?"
"Ah. but that | c2n~0t tell YOU.
Il may be sOmethire tlat IS said
Some statement. you know. II
may be d laugh It may be no
more than a nuance-a1 OVcrtOne.
perhaps There may be nothing at
al One can only listen and hope.
One can only encourage c0nversa-
tlCa."
Strained Situation
GO sat and tried to listen with
ears attuned differently from
my usual bent Tried to listen as |
imagined Mr.. Dodson was listen
ing Tried TO see myself and my
guests as he was seeing lis.
without the aid OF eyesight and
from sound alone
Eve. It appeared. was being
charming to everyone. | thought
It a pity Mr.. DodsOn could not
see her in her slinky black crepe
and pearls. since she was so OBJ
viOuSly putting herself out for
his benefit. She herself had chosen
to sit next to him. but perhaps
that was only because Bob was on
her other side.
Quite unnecessarily. she was
arranging Mr.. DOdSon's food for
him, making sandwiches and
serving his plate, for when it
pleased her to take thought of
others she must have her way.
Under cover of conversation oS-
tensibly general, she was using
Claire and Bob as targets, leaving
them now and then to return to
Mr. DOdSOn, as though his welfare
and interest were her chief con-
Germ.
He was plainly f1attered, as any
man IS when a woman exertS her
self to be attractive TO him, but
il was also plain from the half
smile that hovered around his
mouth that he was in no way
taken in.
All the men looked a little
grim. but it seemed TO me there
was reason enough for this. aside
from the murder. Bill, with his
black eve resulting from that hit
and-run encounter in the dark
hall. The two triangleS raying out
from the engagement of Claire
and Bob. Although l was certain
Bob did not consider Kirk an
actual rival. l knew he was none
100 easy in his mind about Eve.
How much claim Eve had. I could
not guess, nor how much it meant
to Bob.
Everyone seemed to be making
a desperate effort to talk without
mentioning the things uppermost
in everybody's mind Someone
had struck on food as a safe sub
ject. Kirk, bent on helping along