Show 17 J A TA r 11 4 W elf H E A D ISABEL WAITT WAIT RE LEASE THE STORY SO FAK FAB judy jason who li Is telling the story receives receive an anonymous letter inclosing enclosing and ask ing her to bid for or an abandoned church to be auctioned the next day she finds in an old chest the body ol of a man ced ai s roddy lane the body disappear pear a few ew boun ours later a ter A fish bsh shed hed burns apparently killing an old in man an named earned brown who li Is supposed tup posed to have lived there lily kendill kendall Is found nead dead with hugh hue norcross gs scarf around net her neck albion potter gives fives judy a picture of the church he has just finished bessie bessle norcross Nor crosa writes a confession hugh insists that his hi sister only confessed to 0 save sa ve him now continue with judy story CHAPTER auntie was urging me to go back to the house the boat was already at the waters edge I 1 wanted to see the final splash and learn it if it would be safe I 1 hoped victor quade get into it when with a mighty shove it slipped into the bay As a matter of fact nobody did just then thaddeus quincy let out a yell and waved his red table cloth like anything sure enough a sail boat was making for our wharf she had no tender but as she came about the men hastily tied the eleanor and stood shouting till its a yonder wonder anything could be made of it t ahoy therel there yelled the man lone lane ready lost my tender so hed come expecting roddy to go sailing with him and roddy kept the date lanes not herel shrilled quincy quiny c Y Ther theres Qs been a de witt held up ills his hands let me my friends then he bellowed send the police at once murder 1 understand the man let go the tiller a second to megaphone with his hands not lanel lane did you say murder when he e show up I 1 came after him you want the pol police icel I 1 was sure he was going to capsize but he righted his craft and sailed slowly oh it seemed so slowly toward town across the cove it wont be long now potter said and im utterly glad sorry for norcross though uncle wylie pulled at his old corncob pipe a moment nella wheres my pipe you know the one I 1 like where the police cant find it iia howd wd I 1 know confess I 1 I 1 burned it hill dang it burned my best that was a smart mart thing to dol do the police think when they find youve deliberately burned some of the evidence uncle wylie was mod mad let em think what they please aunt nella swept up the steps with dignity come along mr norcross c she had no intention of sharing her precious pre elderberry wine with all of us but hugh sank down in a chair his head slumped forward and a dazed expression on his face as if he could no longer take it all in I 1 sat in the next chair be a relief to belet be let alone in a nice quiet cell he said to noboa nobody Y in particular only my own nerves to consider for a change I 1 believe be a rest maybe poor bessie will snap out of it help her judy and know this before they come if things turned out this way I 1 was going boling to tell you something it matter now you want to hear it from a fiend like me I 1 could still see the sailboat disappearing in in the opposite direction the sun was hot below us lay the charred place where the fish shed had stood with its gruesome exhibit beyond poor lily whom the men had thought best to leave where she was cruel as it seemed to us all there are plenty of people on this porch who could be convicted on evidence against them the same as you it seems to me hugh personally I 1 cant see what you could have to say to me after the wa way y you tried to involve me in this awful affair I 1 said to him nobody could pin anything on you on account of the 1 I sent youa you in 50 bills ile he let it ride 1 I wish come and take me away suspense is terrible 11 hughie why did you put that g glass fiss bead in in my powder compact and leave the bag for de witt to find you must have known it would implicate me oh yes the bead it was a nice one I 1 found it thought you could give it back to miss kendall always picking em up for her so you were pretty kind to a person planned to kill wed been almost whispering but now I 1 9 got 0 t up to go into the house fraid arnid it wont wash hugh norcross any more than the pool of blood bessie says was at the toot foot of the church steps no one else saw any traces of it ashes covering for you and youre doing the same for her A whisper came between us shut up judal go on with the act norcross know youre innocent but throw the real you know oil guard then aloud victor said so thit that the others could all hear now that norcross has cleaned his slate can any of the remainder of you throw any light or on various angles might keep some of it from the au thorit ties les if it had nothing to do with the crimes that is I 1 saw my aunt turn her back and knew the teeth were being plunked flunked in again mr gerry and I 1 will not mind their questions ill own up to destroying the pipe bet most wives burn up a smelly pt pipe pe or two its silly to think even if it dropped out of wylies aylies pocket at the fish shed it could have set the fire burned him it why dont you come clean about your daughter mr quincy cant do any harm now thaddeus quincy pou pounded the steps with his cane ile he was wa sitting in his chair down at the foot of them and now his face seemed strangely contorted as he glared at my aunt you leave her out of it P he thundered he had a motive tool he had a stalwart cane he could get around alone for I 1 blundered into him in the church aisle had his daughter been another of raddys victims and why my aunt told me A new respect for her came over me as mr quincy sputtered she had nothing to do with this six years ago my only child fell in love with and married that cad lane while I 1 was in baden baden taking the cure I 1 was only gone nine months but I 1 never saw her husband until night before lost last when he walked into the dining room here hed gone through the little money my daughter had received from her mother and deserted d her for another woman before I 1 came home you cant imagine the refined cruelty he practiced on my little girl before she went to reno and divorced him now dehes happily married again you can see app f A 71 2 A I 1 1111 fir RIA V N I 1 be a relief to be let alone in im a nice quiet cell why I 1 dont want her mentioned she waited three years for him and W when hen he came crawling back after the lane bank scandal she saw reason and divorced hirn him hugh flamed it my sister I 1 bessie have anything to do with another womans comans husband if she knew it quincy abc added led dont have a fit norcross it your sister happened out west the woman I 1 wont mention her name but she dabbled in magazine illustrating she was married also at the time deserted her too led her a terrible life ive heard there was a motive a yard wide a man chos abused his daughter ought to be killed mr quincy himself said so the next breath it was vas lucky lane had kept out of his sight but bu t I 1 kill him nor that pestiferous miss kendall ill admit I 1 came to the head to try to get back bach my daughters roddy told her after hed been drinking one day he had a personal bank hidden at the head but not in the castle hed fooled the police at the time of the search but if shed take him back hed get it and repay her the depression left us especially her and her twin babies shed remarried after the divorce hard up id seen no mention of lane in the rockville p paper a per I 1 determined ter mined ined to come to the read head end and have a look see the auction of the church set me thinking that would be the very place to hide wealth in an unused church so I 1 came I 1 know whether lane was still afraid to show up here or had taken tile the money away or riot fiot my daughter refused to have anything to do with him or his money did you send me the cash to buy the church ile he pointed his cane at hugh ile he did me im poor I 1 bid but it was a relief when you got it judy that would give me access without without suspicion no its clear as a brook the recluse ita dud by accident the bridge collapsed norcross Nor crosa avenged his sister and M miss iss kendall fell all we have to do is wait for the police who should arrive in he took out his watch about fifteen or twenty minutes victors victor s hands pat a caked silently very very interesting mr quincy and the wind tied the blue scarf around lilys neck you should know I 1 down there wed all left the church and gone to we the bridge you stayed a while you yes with judy did lilys death coincide with the gulls cry I 1 felt sure it had victor changed the subject why anything to add potter the artist jumped his wide eyes bulging wider me he shrugged not a thing came here to paint and a fine chance ive hadl never saw or heard of the place before went to rockville first just as you did quade and a fellow said when I 1 bought some linseed oil and turpentine if its scenery you want go to the head so I 1 came and liked it and now wish I 1 it was the longest speech id ever heard from him the minister saying a thing he stood by the rail his sermon forgotten gazing out toward rockville but he faced us quietly when victor spoke to him and you de witt want to add a word you mean my prison record doubtless be raked up ill just say this 1 I lost money donby in the lane bank failure several thour Aind dollars I 1 came here summers rockville I 1 mean and preached there as well as in new york because of a scandal I 1 was ousted from both churches some of the funds for maintenance were missing the police rec received elved an anonymous letter hinting that there might be a connection between the embezzlement at the bank and the church affair perfectly ridiculous I 1 was accused and sent to prison and served nine months then one of my deacons confessed I 1 always thought lane might have sent that anonymous letter no proof could be found there was a horrible interval of suspicion before the police accused me at the church everyone thought him guilty his father had come to me and id talked with roddy earlier that is is tried to get him to do the right thing if he had taken poor peoples savings or forged my name to a certain check I 1 prayed with him to clear his conscience he told me to go to hades his fa ther my friend shot himself but that until after id been tried and convicted and served time now you know and if excuse me he left us and went to his room victor announced quite bluntly several things sound fishy to me I 1 advise anyone to try to get away in in the eleanor for instance including yourself cried hugh including myself 11 ile he was rehashing his own status when I 1 went in in I 1 was a sight and the police were due any minute we might all be taken to rockville for questioning id fix my hair and jump jump into a clean dress that dotted blue lue voile would do I 1 hurried to my room the money yes it was still therel there 1 I 1 started to open my closet door and saw id have to move the church picture again oh dear more paint but this time I 1 was careful and turned it farther along the wall taking hold of one corner and reversing the painting suddenly I 1 sat back on my heels and stared As plain as day the face of a funny little monkey showed through the place where id wiped it with a newspaper a little while ago the only monkey I 1 knew of as a pet belonged to gloria lovelace lily kendalls niebel I 1 began to wonder what the rest of the picture looked like the paint was still wet As 1 I swiped at it with paper a portrait emerged dau bily nothing distinct but a young woman with oodles of curls holding a monkey it if I 1 could get some linseed oil or even kt ki 0 sene maybe id have a portrait two initials came to view A P down in in one corner albion potter of course I 1 recalled a picture of lilys niece the movie star and a monkey I 1 knew I 1 but I 1 deliberately went into miss kendalls room and the first thing I 1 saw was a photograph id often noticed before of a pretty pr e tty girl with lots of hair holding ho d ng up a pet monkey mol rikey that was queer enough had lily given albion potter a commission to do a portrait of her wece niece right from the photograph that must be it yes there it was A little linseed c oil and anyone could see the subjects were the same the painting what I 1 could see of it looked very rood good I 1 went up and put on my dotted voile and joined the others before the police came that was a swell portrait you did of miss kendalls kendalla niece mr potter I 1 smiled at him only I 1 wish you pain painted fed over it wh why I 1 never did a portrait of her niece in my eifel but your initials are on it I 1 persisted on the back of the picture of the church you gave me TO BE CONTINUED |