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P a f c f r t. t 2 1 fA s I iI v w Tm MB H J l M J DH 1 U UEL r lJ I ISABEL 5 A EL E l lN N WA WAITT A I IT T T f 4 d j f WN U y THE TilE STORY SO FAR Judy Jason who Is telling Uie Ue stor story receives an letter enclosing SOO and ask ask- log lag ns her ber to bid for an abandoned church to be auctioned the next day After Arter the tho auction the body of a man Identified as Roddy Lane Is found In a chest In lo n the basement of the church but disappears a few hours bouts later Victor Quade Qu finds a rolf golf club dub near the chest A fish shed I burns apparently killing an old man named Brown who Is supposed to have lived there no one has ever seen seeD him Uncle Wylle's WylIes pipe Is found near nen the Ute shed Hugh nuch ugh Norcross has lust just told them he be used Potters Potter's turpentine to clean nessle Bessie's coat Now continue with Jud Judy's y s story CHAPTER VIII You cleaned It for her With turpentine Uh Uh huh Gave me a little Dont Don't you remember Potter You were working on that painting of the Quaker Qua Qua- ker church and I 1 asked if turpentine turpentine turpen tine would do the trick and you said It would and gave me some on my handkerchief That right Mr Potter Sorry Sony Norcross the artist said I recall no such Incident Bessie's Bessle's face flamed I dont don't see what difference it makes if my coat has bas a spot on it or not except to me If my brother tried to clean it t off Im I'm sure that was very kind of him Arent Aren't all artists proverbially t minded absent That's where your old turpentine went It wasn't stolen stolen stolen sto sto- sto- sto len at all You used it up Mr Potter Potter Potter Pot Pot- ter ter A Albion Abion didn't answer her but he lou louied ed shocked as he edged away to the other side of the group back backof of Mr Quincy's chair Theres a question Id I'd like to tot t ask Victor said How many of s you have golf clubs here 1 Hugh and Bessie Bessle admitted they'd brought theirs and Aunt Nella reminded reminded reminded re re- minded us that the minister had some by a significant nod He had kept silent until the force of unspoken unspoken un un- un spoken glances made him say That shot I made on the lawn last night Wasn't my club B Belonged Belonged Be Be- longed to Mr Norcross I 1 think Didn't bring my own downstairs yet Why Quade It would be a good time to search leis his golf bag I 1 thought but Victor only shrugged again and said nonchalantly nonchalantly non non- Oh nothing Just wondered won dered tiered whose mashie might be miss- miss Ing Saw one back of Judy's hope chest in the church basement It bad blood on it Blood You could hear the gasp that ran around our piazza and made everybody lean forward with witha ow a dazed expression See here Mr Quade Potter said In a voice that trembled you had bad no right to keep this to your your- self elt Yes why didn't you show us They were all talking at once Hugh Norcross started down the steps The minister minister Mr De Witt there there just just said he was using my club on the lawn 13 Well if he be was I can soon prove It All my clubs are initialed Ill I'll get my mashie But Hugh where are you going goIng go- go goIng Ing Bessie cried The tent Left my bag In the tent and forgot to take It In after after- ward Dont Don't you remember I II If she did Bessie looked pretty anxious Did you see any initials alongside along along- side Ide the the the-the the blood Mr Quincy banged the railing ratling and made us all Jump Victor shook his head We were all watching Hugh Norcross emerge from rom his tent without any bag Queer They're not in the tent Must be upstairs after all Uncle Wylie who'd been fiddling with his beloved pipe now sprang up suddenly What you OU looking for Mr Norcross I carried in those clubs You'll find em in your room roomi i l behind the door Are yours initialed too Miss Norcross Victor asked Bessie inclined her head Hugh and I always mark everything Then en if the one you saw down J I it at t the th the church isn't initialed I suppose suppose suppose sup sup- pose pose its it's that mine mine that what you mean 9 Quade p The ie minister fairly shouted shout shout- r ed Jt Not necessarily But if your mashie Is missing missing Exactly Well Nell it I 1 appoint ap ap- point you a committee of one to go up tip to my room the room the door Is unlocked un un- locked locked and and bring down my mash mash- ie I Get it yourself if you'd feel betI better bet bet- I ter ier about it it Victor said The minister got up with great dignity and stalked up the stairs Hugh raced upstairs after the clergyman and presently the two men came down together Theres my mashie boomed the minister accusingly Hugh carried carded one club When Bessie Bes- Bes gie sie saw it she paled Initialed neatly neat neat- 4 ly 13 at one end were the letters E. E N. N Some one ODe has used my club in more places than on OD the lawn and if H theres there's blood on it I hope bope to God theres there's fingerprints too Bessie clenched her hands Her voice cut like lile ice My brother she he said with unmistakable emphasis I sis II sis ha has a reputation which will put p 1 Shim h him above any circumstantial cion And if it anyone has bas tried to smirch him by committing a crime Ill I'll Ill I'll-I Ill I'll ll- ll with with his club t f Oh Oh dry up Bess Hugh napped mapped No ones one's accusing me of any anything thine Let them try iU I Mr Quincy thumped his cane Lily Kendall giggled nervously while l I Bessie Bessle glared at her and said Teh Uncle Wylie drained his pipe noisily till Aunt Nella nudged him It was Albion Potter who brought us all back to normal Look at that cloud effect he said There that's just what I was trying to put Into my picture Cumulus My I 1 wish Id I'd bought some extra turpentine Bessie turned on him anger in her biting tone If youre you're trying to remind us that your turpentine was used on my coat why coat why I think youre you're plain dirty mean Goodness were they going to fight over such a small matter matter matter-at at a time like this Mr Quincy beat a n tattoo We cant can't all shout he shouted Let Mr Quade continue Victor ge gestured from the foot of the steps My friends he began In a voice so imitative of President Roosevelt's that even at that tense moment everybody recognized It and smiled lets Jets have bave a quiet little fireside fireside fireside fire fire- side talk We all of us have things to explain Take myself You have only my word Im I'm I 1 claim I am I had perhaps the best opportunity opportunity t unity of anyone to commit this crime Certainly I arrived at the crucial time I cant can't find my publishers publisher's publishers publisher's pub pub- u lishers lisher's letter or any other credentials credentials credentials creden creden- to establish the fact Im I'm a well- well known mystery writer writer writer-Vidor Vidor Quinn And that title title Murder Murder on the Bluff could anything be more pat Now I ask you The club may be mine The rest of the committee didn't see It behind the sea chest Perhaps I put it there I 1 dont don't happen to have i rr l f IJ t Vf rt 31 t w M f t i if f c I Ord t 1 Hugh ugh and Bessie Dessle admitted they had bad brought theirs had bad the pleasure of knowing this Roddy Lane but that can come up later We all of us come under the head bead of suspects Take Mr Ir Quincy That cane of his could kill a man and does he know how to use it And he can manage to get around quite a abit abit abit bit w without that wheel chair Cant Can't you Mr Quincy Quite a bit bit Why Thaddeus Quincy was actually grinning like a gargoyle I try to do more and more each day Soon I shall swim and then watch then watch outi Go on Quade Great stuff Victors Victor's mouth twitched but h he e wasn't smiling All AU right Mr Pot Pot- ter Paint doesn't cover an alibi He went to town yes And he losa lost los losta t te a bottle of turpentine Maybe h he e didn't lose It see it-see see I hate to think what the police will do to all of you Take Hugh Norcross He admits admits ad ad- mits nits he the lawn lawn look ran across look looking ing fag for Bessie he says He cleaned d a spot off his sisters sister's coat he says His IDs mashie mashio is missing And you sir Victor indicated indicate d the clergyman You could explain plenty I imagine and will do s so o when the time comes comes about about that tha t Lane fellows fellow's mistaking you for a an n ex-convict ex named Smith We all held our breath Youve no right to give him the third degree degree de de- degree gree Mr Quade I shouted Aunt t Nella Wylie and I know all about him goin to prison It was a crue cruel 1 shame Why dont don't you speak Reverend Reverend Reverend Rev Rev- So it was true then And Aunt Nella had known it t all the time Ume and an annever d never told mel Such a saccharine smile as Jonas De Witt threw at her In In du due e time lime my good woman In du due e time Then to the others he said It is true I I I-I I have bave a prison rec ord It seared me but Im I'm no not t te ashamed of it I suppose It will b ball be beall benIl e all nIl raked up again I 1 can only y hope you succeed In solving this mystery before belore the press gets the tin e story Any more publicity well publicity well we can all bear what we have to Ill I'll help you any way I can Mr Quade Was he a B saint or a Q sanctimonious s old hypocrite pulling the wool over ove r my aunts aunt's eyes For the moment my Dast cast history Y I is my own I can assure you it has nothing t to do with this story Nothing Nothing Noth Noth- ing whatever Course it hasn't scoffed Aunt Nella Nella- Even if the poor man did lose every penny when the Lane Bank blew up and Roddy swiped swiped- You keep still stilt advised my uncle uncle uncle un un- cle for tor once in his life Mind your own business True aint it Tell em its it's true Reverend Yes Its It's true When that crooked crook crook- ed son of the Old Mans Man's cleaned out the bank I lost everything Id I'd saved from years of hard work But others others others oth oth- ers lost too Why wasn't it insured Victor asked Nobody knows exactly but what insurance there was didn't cover corer Roddy's suppo supposed ed embezzlement People couldn't prove young Lane did steal the funds he was never brought to trial because there wasn't anything to go by But the money was gone The bank failed TheOld The TheOld Old Man shot himself Roddy hid it in the Castle if you ou ask me added Aunt Nella Now were we're getting somewhere Victor said How many of you people lost money In that fiasco Nobody spoke Mr Quincy was drawing imaginary circles on the porch with his nervous cane You cant can't expect us to answer a question question ques ques- tion like that Mr Quade Practically Practically Practically cally admit a motive for killing Roddy Lane Youre You're crazy Not so crazy as you think Why should an Innocent person hesitate A matter of record Isn't it Uncle Wylie removed his pipe If 1 this might not have bave happened Only record Is personal bankbooks Nella and me weve we've weve we've got ourn But the ledgers of the Lane Bank vanished van along with the funds Nellas Nella's nuts to say they were hidden Inthe Inthe In Inthe the Lane Castle Authorities scoured the place high and low at the time Couldn't find a thing That was after after after aft aft- er the old man shot himself which some thought as didn't know him was tantamount to a confession Might a been a-been at that that for for his son But Roddy got off scot free No proof against him bim Want to see our accounts Joint they was Later Mr Gerry You weren't afraid to speak up Why should he be Auntie snapped The savins savin's didn't make him half so mad as the fight over the boundary line There she went went making making things worse for poor old Uncle The police po pa lice would have a sweet time twistIng twisting twisting twist- twist Ing him around In their net Not only the lost savings and the old boundary feud but the damning evidence evi evi- evidence dence of his bis having been intoxicated ed the finding of his pipe at the scene of the ruined fish shack hed he'd threatened over and over quite publicly publicly publicly pub pub- to burn down some day Was Victor Quade also adding up these things to make harmless Uncle Wylie Wylie Wylie Wy Wy- lie Gerry into a killer But Victor struck everybody silent si silent silent si- si lent when he said Mr Gerry youre you're the only one here who knew this man Brown Is that right That was correct Aunt Nella only i having seen him a few times at a distance Of course Victor went on he may be quite all r right Weve We've noth nothing ing tog to prove he didn't go to Rockville Rockville Rock Rock- ville vile last evening and stay there ortry or ortry ortry try to return to the Head and find the bridge out out But an old man man to to togo go off oft like that and leave a light burning Youre You're sure about the light you two He looked from Mr Quincy to me and we both ra rated ted That there ear trumpet trumpet trumpet-he he never nev neve never er went nowhere without It Uncle Wylie said Not even fish in Had HadIt Hadit It tied over his shoulder some way I Suppose you describe the man Was he tall taU I Not so very Wasn't short nei I ther there Kinder medium and stooped stooped- I like Come to think of it I usually saw him settin either settin either on the bench benchin in front of the shack or over on OD the rocks back of the church Well go on Was he light or dark Old or young Dont rush me You know he was old old old-as as old as the hills bills So old I thought he hadn't oughter be lIvID livin all alone by himself and asked him why he be did But he answered as always sticking that thing ear Into my face and turning his sideways Hey Im I'm a hard o o 0 hearin Speak louder You'd think hed he'd stepped out of some Yankee play The Old Homestead or Way Down East Character he was Old tim Old er ere Only other thing I ever beard heard him say was Liked to fish fishoff oft off the rocks when he be first come And when was that Not so long Jong ago Just afore you tourists It Nella How I know Nobody saw him come Just saw a light there one night and you went over and there he be sat on the bench twiddling his thumbs and blinkin at the sea Aunt Nella replied Blinking did you say Thais what Wylie said said behind behind his thick glasses Wylie Wylle lit his bIs pipe she broke off abruptly as If u the memory of the and her ber husbands husband's pipe were too painful to go goon goon goon on with Said he be was poverty struck lookin Old and deaf and hunched up and sort of Isaid Isaid I Isaid said if it he made a nuisance of 01 himself him self before my guests Id I'd have bave him fired out of Qt there but he never did Squatter you yuu said Wylie I TO nr E |
