The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1941-12-10

strange looking men Who Jinv
teiis me are detectives and peonle
are going to fire bullets into ne
WincoH right next to nline. / sun
pose III have 70 make It nv busI-
ness"
Yes, ! understand. thought
that It she didn't ger to the point
l would do her some phvsicaI
damage What was this one thins
you heard2s
4 heard him say" she said
slowly, I win kill you firstgs
1 gulped audibly. ssYeu YOU
must be mistaken"
She shook her iron-grav head
NO. Those are his exact words
1 VIII Kill you first. he said of
course, she added with a p1thetfe
eagerness, he probabiy was let
ING PEOPLE say foolish things
Mhen tney'Ee excited. I'm sure
tnere.s absolutely nothing in il
! thought of Alice McDonald's
story and then laughed at rnvself.
Of course there was nothing in n
II Tommy Nelson had Threatened
Carol she would have told Us
she would have been afraid Of
him, and she wasn't.
Yet why on earth should this
woman, who was obviously re-
iieving her conscience and would
give her right arm to have moth.
ing 70 do with this mess. invent
such a tale?
j looked at her suspiciotslv
Why haven't you said anvthirg
about this before2 The papers
have been full of the murder for
two days now" "a
Because I didn't want 10 get
mixed up IN any vile murder
case, she said defiantly sTm a
schoolteacher. | have my work to
think about, my job to take into
consideration
Wei, thank you very much.
III tell someone what you We Just
told me at once" / started for the
door but she caught me before I
quite made il.
You you don't have to tell
the police, do your
Naturally, | do. Why not?n
She fidgeted nervously. sThev
won't want 70 question me, viii
they2 Detectives, / mean, and
policemen. They won't be COM
ing UP here TO my apartment
They won't hurt you"
Carol Clears 1t Up
I LEFT her looking not at all re.
i assured and went back to my
place. JEFF was sitting by the teIe-
phone scribbling something on a
piece Of paper and paving no at
tention to Carol who sat bolt up
right on the couch and rubbed her
chin with a tentative motion.
-Well7D demanded JEFF
Wait a minute" I went straight
to the point @Caro1, did Tommy
Nelson ever say that he would
kill you. or anything like that7"
Her eyes met mine, but she
seemed bewildered. Apparently
she had not recovered from the
tables left uppercut to the jaw.
What are you rafting about2"
JEFF cut in.
Il explained about Miss Tai
madge and what she had over
heard Il think she is telling the
truth" / finished in time to hear
Carol gasp.
Carol sat very still and strange
little sound burst from her lips.
She said slowly. Yes, it's true.
Blu. he didn't mean il. He was just
talking the way you do when
you're hurt and angry. ] swear
that he didn't mean a thing and
| swear that Tommy never tried
to kin me- I know he didn't
'Why2" JEFF was looking at her
Because because he loves
me"
Suppose you start right cut
now. Carol. and clear this whole
thing I'D for me"
Carols hands were clasped
tightly in her lap. She hesitated
as though she couldn't find a way +
to begin. .It's awfully hard Il
sounds so terrible and - and /
and really its silly and
innocent. What Tommy said.
mean. You see, wien we first
rehearsals Tommy was
nice to me. He took me Ia lunch
sometimes and to dinner and
bought me cigarettes. I think that
Haila asked him to . to be kind
to me-"
Over Carols head l nodded at
JEFF but didn't interrupt her. He
was swell and / liked him lots.
He was always saying funny
things and acting crazy and we
had a good time together. And
then all of a sudden there was
Steve. and Steve and | loved each
other and everything was so beau
tiful that II just forgot about
Tommy. ! guess. And then I saw
what had been happening to him
and hadn't even noticed. And ]
was scared and terribly unhappy"
What had been happening.
take II was that Tommy had fall
en- in love with you
Carol nodded. u couldn't help
realize il. JEFF. ! would have been
a fool not to. should have known
il sooner except that
wasn't paying much attention to
anyone or anything but Steve.
And then when ! knew about
Tommy at last I had 20 do some
thing. He had been so sweet and
I just couldn't let things go
on and burt him even more. So !
told him -