Show N na 4 Z 1 V bay B 4 ISABEL 5 A B E L 51 WAITT WA I 1 TUB THE STORY SO FAR judy ia jason who ho li Is telling the storup receives rec elvei an anonymous letter enclosing SOO and ask ing inc her to bid for or an abandoned church to be auctioned the next day she sus beets in turn each ol of tb the guests bests at the inn im where the li 12 staying they the y are the reverend jonas dewitt lily kendall thaddeus quincy albion potter hugh norcross si and his sister lister bessie other possibilities are aunt nella nelia and uncle wylie owners of the inn but the sender of el the letter Is I 1 s till still unknown when judy bids for or the church and bets ge is it I 1 t that night MI 8 1 ahe 5 h e finds a hand protruding V ortrud ng from finda an old 1 e ea a 1 chest I by a tins ting the she lecog nixes it as toddy roddy la lanes e now continue with ju audys story CHAPTER 11 II we headed toward the inn and all the while mr quincy was trying to get a coherent story out ol of me are you sure the hand was roddy lanes positively who else wears such a big square diamond noticed it particularly yesterday the sun made it wink just as it did tonight he had it coming to him I 1 have thought roddy was public enemy no 1 from mr Q s tone we were abreast of the old fish shed where the light still gleamed dimly I 1 stopped panting he have a telephone would he judy his cane pointed toward browns doubt it deaf the way he is wed better keep on to the inn well take it easy rest a bit mr Q said or maybe better run along alone leave me here nothing doing I 1 began to push again later I 1 was to wish wed stopped to break the news to old man brown but now we struggled on without speaking though mr quincy reiterated lane certainly had it coming to him and I 1 knew we were both thinking of the same thing the scene at the inn the evening before in a hash flash I 1 could see our guests seated nt at the tables I 1 was helping our little high schooler serve and wondering which if one of them had sent me the the reverend jonas de witt demanded clams once hed been a preacher in new york supplied the rockville center church in summer and boomed at his helpless parishioners like the ninth wave in p a storm at sea he knew his religious creed according to uncle wylie and his golf indeed before making arrangements at the inn hed inquired minutely about a golf course asking as I 1 now recalled if there a short cut to it through the lane estate uncle wylie had carried in his golf clubs S a w wonder on the reverend would come com e way over here anyway mhd think hink t hed hate bate the sight of the lane place old man mail lane skinned him worsen us danged if I 1 dont take that boundary line to court aunt nella had sputtered back dont get started on the lanes fifteen years feud over a few measly inches land sakes dead I 1 aint he and his good for bothin son out west so get to sh those peas and now roddy was dead tool too funny how little things come back to you in the aftermath of terror lily kendall sat beside mr albion potter our painter whose key id snitched snatched snit ched for bessie norcross self effacing eft acing untidy he was a negative sort of person with a disconcerting way of staring you down more likely it was hugh norcross or the reverend mr de witt or even mr mi quincy hugh rather interested te me ire when he could escape his clinging vine of a sis sister ter here was an eligible niale male and did she know it bes bessie besie ie as she repeatedly told the world had already endured one nervous breakdown and appeared hell bent to enjoy another she and her brother were in their later twenties and had summered at the head before evidently from snatches of conversation I 1 caught she loathed the place yet shed come again why knew I 1 was trying to forgets forge forg etl till I 1 heard her exclaim e x once and then hughs gentle expostulation five years prove to yourself hurt any more out west ever meet him face to face I 1 now as it came back to me I 1 wondered out west were they speaking of roddy lane mr quincy also sat at the big table so lily had her pick of the three men hugh and bessie norcross occupied a table by themselves they all suffered over lilys chief topic of conversation her riece gloria lovelace who was rising in pictures in hollywood well there they therall all sat that memorable evening before discussing the auction to take place the next day I 1 listened for dear life to t their heir comments to get a line on my unknown donator the old dump would make a swell bonfire for the fourth hugh said lovely place to watch sunsets this from lily kendall maybe ill bid good spot to think in mr quincy grinned me im going to paint it albion potter exclaimed but it was the minister trying to look dignified and eat a special order of steamed clams at the same time who gave me pause with preached preached ld there one Surn summer mer years ago rather fancy the old church myself sentimental reasons sentimental reasons reason sl the very words in my mysterious appeal I 1 filled his glass till it overflowed as I 1 stared at him sorry folks I 1 jumped a mile as a newcomer spoke from the door help overhearing I 1 happen to want t the he old landmark better plan on some lively bidding roddy lanet lanel same brown suit with wl ith tie to match same bachelor button he affected for his buttonhole same swagger same dangerous ou s dark eyes but with a new square cut diamond flashing from his little finger seven years since id seen him yet hed not changed I 1 was 14 at the time and hed given me my first kiss at a party not a nice kiss id slapped his face instinctively but now I 1 was hostess and he was a guest so I 1 stepped forward maybe it was my copper colored hair but he knew me I 1 too well it if it little judy jason his eye ran over roe me my youve grown into a beautiful fiAl woman 1 feed me till after the auction 11 1 I took his order wondering was he the one A commotion was taking place at the main table mr quincy began muttering muti ering something about the bad odor and working his wheels vh eels hugh sprang pr ang to help him narrowly missing lanes toes bessie left the table head high jonas de witts chair scraped too thick tor for met the guests high words wolds floated back from the piazza down the emp cy 4 X N U 4 00 1 0 M a V in the doorway stood roddy lane ty hall even in the dining room you could hear things like decent folks dirty dog show his face and remember my cloth this was too good to miss lily waddled out with me just ahead of her to try to stem the line of talk or change it if after all rodney lane was a guest but he jumped up tind and crept beside me signaling for silence it was then I 1 had a good look at his well kept hand and the marvelous diamond ring albion potter was at the far end of the piazza sketching the clouds in a little book he always carried the rest were watching the minister practice a golf stroke on the lawn heres what id like to do to that h at bardl de witt ground his heel into aunt nellas velvety grass and sent a golf ball spang through a window in the lane garage at the tinkling of glass beyond our plum tree roddy sauntered down the steps good shot smith lost your stroke he said crisply did they have golf at states stales prison we all stood speechless staring at lane who kept on toward the castle on the bluff at the left of the old church oddly enough bessie norcross found her tongue first how right you were dear what an anan an escape es capel 1 if roddy recognized her shrill voice lie he did not turn his head de witt stood like a paralyzed rabbit I 1 tried to cover the breach dont mind him mr de witt pi rate headers pay no attention to the lan lanes C s he was dreadfully rude but he mistook you for someone else of course of course echoed mr Q with a tense strained look lily twisted her blue beads until they burst into a shower of forget me nots bots he done seems like a perfect to me that lane feller I 1 mean done what he done he ought to be wiped off of the face of the earth and id like to be the one I 1 cut hugh short like to be the one to help me right now start something cant you quoits or how about tar and feathers hugh began picking up beads and handing them to lily who let them slip through her fat fingers well there it was the whole scene in a hash flash as I 1 bumped poor mr quince up the long slope to the inn I 1 also recalled that roddy had not lot shown sho up for breakfast nor come to the auction despite the fact id heard him threaten to bid lively maybe that was camouflage maybe hed sent me the forty awen ty dollar bills to bid for him and now that he was dead id never know why aunt nella let oft off an indignant nt mouthful before I 1 could get my breath at the foot of the steps we had it eventuated acquired a new mealer hed corne come in a trailer and asked permission to park on the bluff over beyond the lane castle where outlands cut in at an angle he might stay a week or a month or the summer anyway aunt netla nella was furious because shed been mixing bread and had to receive him he was in the parlor now reading a book id better go right in and make terms she said she was going straight to bed mr quincy nodded go ahead judy sign him on the dotted line and then get him to help me up the ramp before before might not otherwise might not what aunt nella queried but trotted back to the kitchen while I 1 entered our front parlor blinking into the bright light I 1 let out a little scream call it nerves but the man had on a brown suit his hair and eyes were very dark even ins his size size was about the same no wonder I 1 thought id seen a ghost why not I 1 im victor quade do I 1 know you ile he ro rose se and I 1 saw at once that not only was his voice different being quietly controlled troll ed while roddy bit off his words but he was younger his eyes while just as compelling as lanes invited confidence while raddys fascinated you seem terribly upset mr quade said sit down why dont you can I 1 get you something A glass of water no thanks I 1 slumped into a chair and heard a hysterical giggle coming out of me that sounded like lily kendall you you wish to take your meals at the inn our rates oh I 1 cant mr quade you see theres just been a a murder here you want to get et mixed up with it if help me push a wheelchair bp up the ramp ill call the police A murder he shot at me did you say murder As he bent over my chair a chill crept up my spine who was this person how long had he been here could it have been he mr quincy and I 1 had heard scuttling over near the lanes what was he doing at pirates head anyway could he be the killer victor quade read the ques question dioning mg fear in my eyes nothing could drive me away now he said quietly you be afraid I 1 do ft it whatever it is im trying to write stories and this dont you see it lets me in at the beginning of a mystery wheres the phone ill call the police I 1 felt a little reassured and reminded him of mr quincy but he said never mind mr quincy lead him to the phone it was in my cubicle of an office back of the sitting room which had been converted into a bedroom for our invalid we went in and victor quade firing questions at me right and left lifted the receiver hlo iilo hlo then jiggling the hook emergency Pol police icel he tried several times but got no answer 1 I might have known well find the wires been cut he began investigating while I 1 wondered how he knew unless hed cut it himself outside probably he added I 1 could hear poor thaddeus quincy calling my name please help me with the wheel chair I 1 said there seem to be anybody else around we got mr quincy into the house and held a consultation both men I 1 noticed eyed the other suspicia suspiciously Us victor quade raced out again follow him judy dont let him get away how do we know I 1 raced out too victor was coming back just as I 1 thought cut on the outside not far from where you were mr quincy 1 I dont like your implication sir mr quincy punctuated his remark with his cane could he have cut the wires what with I 1 was remembering mem bering id bumped into him in the aisle of the church so he could manage without his chair never mind the implication it if you cut them the police will soon find out the point is got to be how seem to be anyone here phones useless my cars in a garage in rockville I 1 was towed in in my trailer I 1 mean by the garage people who parked me on the bluff and drove back to town Is there another car I 1 could borrow there gone to town apparently even uncle wylie hed ridden in albion potters car since his own had its innards dismantled out in the barn mr quincy looked relieved I 1 tapped on all the bedroom doors but evidently nobody was in auni aunt nella was nearly asleep she was working terribly hard to mike make ends meet the season having only begun I 1 decided not to tell her the dreadful news but to let uncle wylie do it where was ho he I 1 asked TO DE BE CONTINUED |