Show jf O- O M- M IJ R- R 7 D'- D' D' D 6 f raJ Y t i r i I r I. I PIRATES PIn TES' TES r H HE D J E i D-i- r i 6 1 t t o J ti iq ISABEL WAITT lJ t U N RE LEASE FT SI E STORY SO FAR FAIt Judy Jason fa telling the story receives an j letter enclosing and ask ask- a 1 iller irr to bid for or an abandoned church churchie a Me ie auctioned the next day She sus- sus 15 ls s In turn each of the guests at the g where here she is staying They are the ti trend Jonas DeWitt Lily Uly Kendall s Quincy Albion Potter Hugh I Across cross cross and his sister Bessie and andIc Vic Vic- Quade a writer who has Just ar- ar J rd Judy bids for the church and gets rhe body of a man Identified as Roddy Me 75 found In a chest in the basement of lia church disappears Later Victor 1 de tells Judy Ju-dy that he found round a golf near the chest i SI ow continue with Judy's stor story ch CHAPTER VI 1 fP ward Jward dawn the shed was just a ai i ring ering heap of cinders And what t ld they find What would they if re t were were all running around try- try I to to help Id I'd encountered as I afterward everybody l pt Uncle Wylie still sleeping it ui m his room and of course is Quincy wrapped in a art rt et watching the fire from his i rtE Hed He'd managed to wheel t e self self lf onto the porch But none of ad found a trace of Old Man fi until my foot slipped gh I can feel it now now like like a at 11 t snake It threw me off balk bal- bal k tso so that I barged into the Rev- Rev ids id's Jd s stomach and he let out a ad adl d dl dI which any editor would most T 1 t plainly ai delete I picked up the g which had tripped me to dis- dis jr r it was a large old-fashioned old s trumpet trumpet the the kind you used to toe e years ago in plays when a 33 alperson person would hold one up to nose and shout Hey Well Ci I old Mr Brown would never Thin re in use this one I took it at once a. a tJ ictor dd d to unsolved mystery One saved by person who fc nt save himself Threw it out Ke window didn't he maybe Maybe You say this Brown was wass s ii ste ie deaf Very interesting Very Well one things thing's sure It proves I I dead Otherwise hed he'd be cling- cling ftp to 9 it Oh h yes I Never talked in it my- my i J. J but my husband has said nt t Nella Mrs v rs Gerry what time does des youri your i kman man arrive Any earlier holis holi- holi s ater But weve we've enough cream Lea d for br breakfast Around noon r Heads Head's the last place he calls Victor sighed Hear that folks V z nt tha beat the dickens ye e had an explosion nobody f 3rd rd at tho bridge Nobody from Kville 1 mean Another folI fol- fol I ed by a fire nobody saw Now v e got to wait till 12 o'clock bethe be- be the milkman mi kman can get here We could meet him Potter sug sug- r ted ed IO Well We'll 11 appoint a committee E. E med ed 17 II lie e Witt Well ell theres there's certainly nothing fire to ilo here The trees are safe fr fi fires fire s over Why dont don't we go gol l k and i get dressed and have some staid aDd coffee if Mrs Gerry can e it Perhaps some of you yourie rie Iet rieP JP P course we will my aunt t Lily both cried too added Bessie Norcross me along Hugh waited for Victor who told me i o with the others Hed He'd be along tty kitty soon He was leaning over hot embers searching with the r Id I'd given him M ictor 4 ictor tor Quade called me back s even idy idy even he was calling me by first name now common danger ing g bred familiarity I loved it ites it- it ies es your Uncle Wylie smoke a j. j Md id Uncle Wylie smoke a pipe l Jy Y one never saw him without i it t l smudged little old briar that felled felled to heaven Yes why Keep it under your hat Take alint a alint lint lint Jint at this took look ook a squint in the faint morn- morn light Looked like my uncles uncle's die Ie all right 1 i But ut good land Mr Quade that hours ago ago if if he dropped it it Exactly Maybe he didn't drop 2 If Id I'd found it written in one of books Id I'd say it was a plant g Mn In n one of your books But I III II Aught you were just beginning to lite rite You said said said- Come ome along Judy We might Yell j well rell have coffee too He smiled c fW m at me rather grimly I r aught nought Dont give me away will willu u Quade is my real name If i jold ld you my pen name you'd see seey y mobbed with pink teas and auto auto- aph Ph hounds I needed a rest rest to to toj j G r I away from all that No one er heard of Vi Victor tor Quade I may mayve five ve to tell them myself That Quin- Quin I fellow ellow suspects me couldn't speak One second I ed with pride to be in the conti- conti 1 face ice of an author famous enough be mobbed the next my hopes 1 I mustn't let myself like him l id i'd d d never give me a thought 3 lily vly he was married anyway As- As I heard myself say soy tacky lucky you didn't bring Mrs rode t de Mother Mother Shed She'd never ride with wailer trailer ailer Or did you mean mean- Why Diu m 1 artful little devil Just like at tI And j Ive I've spent years wonder- wonder l gl g how to do that little thing on ony jE y type typewriter writer Judy Jason youre you're ping mg ng to be a n great help to me mc I felt all happy again Nothing pleases a woman so much as to be told she's a help I ran on ahead to help She was the quickest thing you ever saw in her kitchen Already coffee was percola percolating ting Lily Kendall was turning toast Shed She'd poured too much cream into the cups I halved it from cup to cup and set her to getting plates and spoons Such a hubbub in that dining room Auntie and I decided we might as well boil eggs too and let them fix their own oranges If we didn't wed we'd just have to give them thema a regular breakfast in an hour Murder Murder Murder Mur Mur- der and explosions and fires can work up awful appetites The Rev Mr l De Witt Vitt consumed five three- three minute eggs Give em all they want Aunt Nella said be leavin soon Auntie hadn't stopped to change her clothes She looked like the Witch of Endor I told her shed she'd better fly because when the police came all our pictures might get into the Rockville Gazette She just sat at the kitchen table weeping into her coffee If Wylies Wylie's pipe had set the fire she didn't care what happened she said It wasn't in his pocket when she undressed him I hadn't mentioned the finding of that pipe But it wasn't on the the I kitchen shelf where he always put it at night just before going to bed I Though it made more work for forme forme forme me I was glad our high schooler had gone home right after doing the dishes last night At least she was out of this mess I carried in Mr Quincy's cereal soaked with hot not milk as he liked it killed killed Roddy Lane burned his house and jumped into the sea Hugh Norcross was saying Youve got it twisted my boy boomed the minister Roddy killed t a ar r 1 Pl I r y I. I I v Y 6 f eC eCI I c cl I l w 0 LI Bessie Norcross stood clinging to the porch rail Brown more likely The fire was his funeral pyre Then Lane disappeared disappeared disappeared dis dis- dis- dis appeared from the Head Lily tittered twiddling a string of pearls How please I didn't hear no airplane Thaddeus Quincy thumped his cane Listen folks This is a lot lotof lotof lotof of fun I know conjecturing about murders But youre you're all wrong The whole business is a Q series of odd coincidences Very odd 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 the same time a car backfired and we assumed it was blown up Ill I'll wager the police wont won't think so Next that fish shed burns Spontaneous combustion combustion combustion com com- bustion probably Place wasn't fit to live in anyway Just a shack full of tar paper and oily ropes and old tarpaulin A wonder anyone would sleep in the dump but someone did Judy and I saw the light through the one window Couldn't see in Too dirty and cobwebby Had a paper curtain over it too didn't it Judy I just remember slits of light I nodded and he continued continued continued con con- Old man may have been smoking But it was an accident pure and simple Lane didn't kill anybody Hes He's a mean skunk but buthe's buthe's buthe's hes he's far away by now As to how Miss Kendall he came in a car and left the same way I Victor Quade stood up and Mr Quincy stopped abruptly Youre I wrong too unfortunately Victor i said quietly Lanes car is still in inthe inthe the castle garage Its It's now he glanced at his watch not quite 5 Mrs G Gerry rry says the Head is the last place on the trade peoples people's route Milk not until noon Being a holiday holiday holiday holi holi- day therell there'll be no mail Market man tomorrow You can see we have quite a little time before the first person along that empty stretch of road you call the Neck discovers ers the broken bridge and summons summons summons sum sum- I mons aid Funny Rockville didn't see the fire but remember the fog was mighty dense and we project nearly five miles out to sea Take it for a bonfire to honor the Fourth if they chanced to see sec it So what Bessie interrupted Just uJust this my friends Your Roddy Roddy Roddy Rod Rod- dy Lane did not leave the Head His Hiscar Hiscar Hiscar car is still in the garage Saw it last night when we searched I had the flashlight Its It's my belief Judy Judy- was right but now its it's daylight and andI I propose further search Mr De DeVitt Witt Vitt and Mr Potter you take another look in the garage See if you can get into the Lane castle Break a window if sary Here are the keys to my I trailer Scout around But especially especially especially espe espe- scan the rocks Bessie began to cry and Hugh said resentfully I think you might consider the ladies My sister sister- Of course You girls help Mrs Gerry Gerry- Poor woman she needs it Bessie left the room but Lily and I sat tight while Victor continued his directions Lily begged to be allowed allowed allowed al al- al- al lowed to join the tile hunt All right Miss Kendall you and Mr Hugh your name take the church end and the woods Scour the shore Yours is the quieter side toward the cove You might find something Anyway if Brown or orLane orLane Lane is in those woods come quietly back The Head is so tiny you all ought to search it in no time But dont don't touch anything you may find I wouldn't go into the church basement basement basement base base- ment again till the police come Mr Quincy folded his hands his lips working pitifully I could have squeezed Victor when he said Quincy and I will look at the fire ruins And he seized the invalids invalid's chair while I ran to hold open the door I didn't like to be left behind but I they'd virtually dismissed me so I had no choice Anyway they'd soon n be back I fixed a tray for Uncle Wylie which Aunt Nella took up Bessie wiped and I washed the dishes Every other minute one of ofus ofus ofus us would race to the door and as soon as we were through I ran down downto to wh where re the other men were gradually gradually gradually ally collecting around the ruins of the fish shed Bessie Norcross stood clinging to the porch rail She wouldn't budge till her brother came carpe for her sh she said And of course my aunt and uncle were in their room at the time Dont come any closer Victor cautioned Dont touch a thing Glory be they've be-they've they've found some some- thing Aint it Lily burst her pearls down poor Mr Qs neck as he leaned forward pointing with his cane See it That girls and boys Thaddeus shouted is the corpus delicti without which there can be beno beno beno no murder Now all we need is to find out if its it's Brown or Lane Or both of them Potter said shuddering You girls go back Victor said taking the shawl Mr Q handed him hinn from his shoulders and covering the charred torso lying in the midst of ashes and debris I wont won't describe it here its it's too horrible Id I'd never before seen a body burned and blackened beyond recognition What little there was left might have been anybody Could experts tell whether er the remains were of an old man manor nr or a n middle aged I wondered Of Of course rs it was Old Man Brown Mr Q said or wed we'd have found Lanes Lane's diamond ring Diamonds Diamonds Diamonds Dia Dia- monds will burn under pressure being being being be be- ing allotropic forms of carbon but not in a n fire like this Well Vell there wasn't any ring we could find was there Quade No only dont don't tell the police we poked That leaves us just where we were before Lily Kendall said Mr Norcross and I didn't see anybody anybody anybody any any- body in the woods Hugh agreed right Lane Lan skipped and this was an accident How do you know Lane didn't walk to town Bless you I dont He may have Victor agreed But is it logical logical logical log log- ical to suppose he did did did-a a man with witha a car And HAnd the cars 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 uNo we didn't De Witt said Breaking and entering I I thought wed we'd better wait for the police But Potter here shinnied up on to a balcony balcony balcony bal bal- bal bal- cony and saw that one room had been used all right Suitcase on the bed wasn't there Potter and clothes strewn about Albion nodded see much but the bed didn't look as i if it had been slept in tv tvA A mans man's clothes You You You-you you be sure they were Lanes Lane's How could I But a mans man's all right Helter Holter pajamas hi i tu tumbled tubiE biE out oi oin it shirts d out of an n c pen open p suit suit- case Its beginning to make sense Victor Quade said How about it you people We can do a lot to clear up this business for the police and the more we find out the more well we'll be saved afterward What do you say we take a good look at the bridge first post a sentry in case anybody should happen along the Neck bright and early and then have a general operative co-operative to get gether and clear up what we can TO HE lE E CONTINUED |