Show M UR un 0 OF t PIRATES TES HE i J JJ J y ISABEL WAIT T i NU N tJ RELEASE j f STORY SO FAR Judy Jody Jason receives au an o is II telling the story t letter enclosing and aud ask P Pher her ber to bid for lor an abandoned church be auctioned the next day She sus IUS Jill ts p In turn each of 01 the guests at the where abe Ibe Is staying They are the Jonas DeWitt LIly Kendall rt t Quincy Albion Potter nugh crop eross and his s seer ter Dessle and Vic VicI I I- I Quade a writer who has bas Just ar ed d Judy ludy bids for lor the church and gets rhe body of 01 a n an identified as oddy noddy tae lie found In a chest In the basement of 01 J church disappears Later Ictor ictor ride de tells teDs Judy Jody that he be found a golf golfI I 6 near the chest ebest o continue with lib Judy I story slow CHAPTER APER VI iC toward dawn the shed v was as lust just a aC C heap of cinders And what d they find What would they t I e were all running around try to help I d encountered as I afterward everybody Uncle Wyl Wy e a st ll II sleeping It Itt ItIn itIn t In hIs bis room and of course Quincy wrapped In a et watching the fire from h s He d managed to wheel t onto the porch But none of Chad ad found a trace of Old Man wn until my foot s sl I can feel tt it now like a snake It threw me off ba bal bale e so that I barged into the Rev Ind nd s B stomach and he let out a ad d which any editor would most delete I picked up the Jg which had bad tripped me to dis 3 ter er It was a large old fashIOned trumpet the kind you used to toe 14 e years ago in plays when hen a af at t f person would hold one up to r nose and shout Hey Hey Well Jr C old Mr Brown v could never neverin in use this one I took it at once Add to unsolved mystery One In pet saved by person who I pj do t save hImself Threw it out he window didn t he maybe 1 Maybe You say thiS Brown was wasfie fie e deaf Very interesting Very J lWell one thing s sure It proves dead Otherwise Other he d be cling to It ith 11 h yes ever talked In it my but my husband has said l t Nella Nellas s Gerry what tune does your an arrIve Any earl er boll bolli 5 l i a ater But v a e v e enough cream d for breakfast Around noon Head s the last place he calls sighed Hear that folks sn t that beat the dickens 11 ve had an explosIOn nobody d at the bridge Nobody from ville I mean Another fol folT fold T r rd d by a fire nobody saw Now e got to walt wait till 12 o 0 clock be lw lJ the milkman can get here e could meet him Potter sug suga ill a ed ede e U II appoint a committee ed De W tt tt e ell there s certainly certa nothing e to do here The rhe trees are safe fire fires s over Why don t w v e go and get dressed and have some t 1 and coffee If Mrs Gerry can age rte Perhaps some of you J 3 s- s sa a f course we will my aunt Lily both cried to e too added Bessie Norcross e along Hugh F waited for Victor vho v ho told me meo mea o a With the others He d be along ty soon He was leaning over ot of embers searching With the I d given him tor Quade called me back even he was calling me by st name now common danger g bred famil arity anty I loved it- it your Uncle Wylie smoke a Uncle e smoke a pipe I Ione one never saw hum him Without it little old brIar that ed to heavenly heaven o es why ep It under your hat Take a at 11 t at this k a squint In the faint morn mom l Looked lIke my uncle s sall sall all right ut tit good land Mr Quade that ours ago If he be dropped It Maybe he dIdn t drop I d found it wrItten in one of I d say It was a plant It Butt one of your books But I t you were lust just beginning to You said sald- me along Judy We t n II have coffee too He smIled smile d t It at me rather grimly dI I 0 t Don t give me away will Quade is my real name It you my pen name you d ee ae e with pink teas and auto auto- a U hounds bounds I needed a rest to o way from all oe that No on one e eard of Victor Quade I may ma r tell them myself That Quin W SUSpects me dot t speak One second I With pride to be m in the con coati of as an author famous enough k mobbed the next next my hopes hope s t let myself like him him 1 ever give me a thought Probe Pro b e Was married anyway As A a gly I beard myself say sa 8 yOU didn t bring Mrs Mt s her erT She d never ride with wither wt h hem er em Or did yoU mean mean- Why Wh Y fY little devil Just Ilk like e dIve d I ye spent years wonder r w to do that tittle thing on o n Owner ter J dy Jason your OU re reI to I bp be a great Ireal help to me I felt all hippy again agam Nothing pleases a woman so much as to be told she s a help I ran on ahead to help Aunt Nella She was the qu th ng you ever saw in her k ten Already Aready coffee was vas L ly Iy Kendall was turn ng toast She d poured too much cream into the cups I 1 hah cd lit it from cup to cup and set her to getting and spoons Such i 1 hubbub m in that d rang room Aunt e a and I dec ded we might as well boil eggs too and let them fix their 0 own n oranges It If we wed v e ed d do t we e d lust Just have to gl gibe gle e them thema a regular breakfast m an hour Mur der and expos ons and tires fires can work vork up awful fu appet tes The Rev Mr De Witt consumed fi flee fie e three minute eggs Give em all they want want Aunt Nelld Nella saId They II 11 be leavin soon Auntie hadn t stopped to change her clothes She looked I 1 ke kethe kethe the Witch of Endor I 1 told her she d better Ay because when the polIce came all our p m get into the Rockville Gazette She lust Just sat at the kitchen table v into her coffee II If Wyl e s p pe had set the fire she didn t care what happened she sa d It warn wasn t m in his pocket when she undressed hun him hunI himI I hadn t mentioned the find ng of that pIpe But It wasn t on the kitchen shelf where he always ays put It at n a Just before gon gOIl g to bed Though It made more work for forme forme me I was glad our high schooler had gone home right after doing the dishes last n At least she was as out of thiS mess I carried in Mr Qu ney ncy s cereal cereal soaked With hot milk as he liked It I ItI killed Roddy Lane burned hIs house and Jumped into the sea Hugh Norcross was saying Y Yu u ye ve got It tWisted my boy boyI I boomed the minister Roddy killed 1 tl a P t f 4 V 1 1 t LI ll Bessie Bessle Norcross stood clinging to the porch rail Brown more lIkely The fire was his funeral pyre Then Lane dis disappeared appeared from the Head Lily tittered twiddling a string of pearls How please I didn t hear no airplane Thaddeus thumped his cane Listen folks This is a lot lotof lotof of fun I know conjecturing about murders But you re all wrong The whole business is a ser es of o f odd coincidences Very odd First First Judy has the jitters and imagines she sees something Well we proved there was nothing there didn t we Then the bridge broke down at th the e same tune time a car backfired and we w e assumed it was blown up wage vager r the police won t think so Next that tha t fish shed burns Spontaneous corn com bustion probably Place wasn wasa t fit 8 t to live in anyway Just a shack full f till of tar paper and oily ropes and old of d tarpaulin A wonder anyone would sleep in the dump but someone did Judy and I saw the ligh t through the one window Couldn t tsee see in Too dirty and cobwebby Had a paper curtain over it it too didn t It Judy I just remember r slits of light fight I nodded and he con can Unwed Old man may have been bee a smoking But It was an accident t pure and simple Lane didn t kill ki 11 anybody He s a a mean skunk bu buhe but buthe t he s B far away by now As to how Miss Kendall he came In a car and an d left the same way Victor Quade stood up and Mr Quincy stopped abruptly You re r e wrong too unfortunately Victor Victo r said qUietly Lane s a car Is still In Inthe the castle garage It s now he h e glanced at Ws his watch not qUite b 5 Mrs Gerry says the Head Is the last las t place on the trade people s a route Milk not until noon Being a boll holl hollday day therell there'll be no mall maiL Marks Market t man tomorrow You can see nee w we e have quIte a little time before the th e first person along that empty stretch of road you call the Neck disco v vera ers era the broken bridge and sure sum summons mona mons aid Funny Rockville dIdn t see the fire but remember the fog was m dense and we proJect nearly five m Ics out to sea Take It for or a bonfire to honor the Fourth If they cl ci aneed to see It So what Bess e a interrupted Just this my frIends Your Rod Roddy Roddy dy Lane d d not leave the Head H scar s scar car IS st 11 in the garage Saw it last n when no e searched I had the It s my bet bel of et Judy aas as r but now It s daylight and andI I 1 propose further search Mr De Witt and Mr Potter you take another look m in the garage See If you can get into the Lane castle Break a window If d necessary nary sary Here are the keys to mytra my mytra tra ler Scout around But espe especially scan the rocks Bess e a began to cry and Hugh said resentfully I think you m stir cons der the lad es My sister sister- Of course You g help Mrs Gerry Poor woman oman she needs It Bess e a left the room but Lily and I sat tight wh le Victor continued his d meet ons L ly Iy begged to be al alto to io wed ved to jo n the hunt All r kI 1 ss Kendall you and Mr Hugh What s your name take the church end and the woods Scour the shore Yours IS the qu eter side to yard void the cove You m stir find something Anyway Any If Brown or orLane orLane Lane IS m in those woods come qUietly back The Head is so tiny you all ought to search It m in no t me But don t touch anything you may find I wouldn t go into the church base basement basement ment again agam tIll the police come Mr Qu ncy folded his hands Ws his lips bps working p t ully I could have squeezed Victor when he sa d Quincy and I will look at the fire fir e ru ns And he seized the invalid s g cha r while I ran to hold open the thedoor thedoor door I d do t like to be left behind but bu t they d virtually d me so I had no choice Anyway the they d soon be back I fixed a tray for Uncle Wyl Wyle e which Aunt Nella took up Bess e a wiped and I washed the th e dishes Every other minute one of ofus ofus us would race to the door and a as s soon as we were through I ran do don donto n nto to where the other men were gradually gradually ally collect ng around the rums ruins of o othe f the fish shed Bess e a Norcross stood cl ng ng to t 0 the porch ral rail She wouldn t budge budget t 11 her brother came for or her she sa d And of course my aunt and uncle were m in the r room at thet the t me meDon Don t come any closer Victor Gaut Don t touch a th ng Gory Glory they be-they ye ve found some something something thing Ant It tm tin Lily LIY burst her pearls down poor Mr Q s neck as he leaned forward pointing with his cane See It That g ris and boys Thaddeus shouted IS the corpus delicti without which there can be beno beno no murder Now all we need is to find out If It s Brown or Lane Or both of them Potter sa d shuddering You g ris go back Victor said taking the shawl Mr Q handed him from his shoulders and covering the charred torso lying m the midst of ashes and debris I won t descrIbe it here It s too horrIble I d never before seen a body burned and blackened beyond recognition What little there was left m have been anybody Could experts tell whether er em the remains were of an old man manor manor or a middle aged I 1 wondered Of course it was Old Man Brown Mr Q said or we d have found Lane s diamond ring D a amonds amonds monds will burn under pressure be being being ing allotropIc forms jf df carbon but not in a fire like tins thIs Well there wasn t any ring we could find was there Quade No only don t tell the polIce we poked That leaves us lust just where we were before Lily Kendall said Mr Norcross and I didn t see any anybody anybody body m in the woods I Hugh agreed That s right Lane skipped and this was an accident How do you know Lane didn t v walls alk I to town Bless Bess you I don t He may have Victor agreed But IS It log leal ical to suppose he did did-a man With a car And the car s still over there the minister thundered Strange Passing strange There wasn t a thing wrong With the trailer AlbIOn Potter added Did you go into the castle No we didn 1 t De Witt said BreakIng and entering I thought we d better walt wait for the police But Potter here shinnied up on to a bal balcony balcony cony and saw that one room bad been used all r SUitcase on the I bed wasn wasa t there Potter and clothes strewn about Albion nodded Couldn t see much but the bed dIdn t look as u it t had been slept in In A man s clothes You You-you couldn t be sure they were Lane Lanes B How could 17 I But a man a all allright allright right Helter pajamas shirts tumbled out cut of at an open suit case caseI Its It s beginning to make sense ense I Victor Quade said How about It ItI I you people We can do a lot to clear up this business for the police and the more we find out the more we B 11 be saved afterward What do I you say we take a good look at the bridge first Erse post a sentry in case I anybody should happen along the Neck bright and early and then have a general operative cooperative get to gether and clear up what we can TO BE |