Show CHILD OF EVIL 0 0 OCTAVUS SERVICE ROY COHEN by 0 OCTAVUS ROY COHEN CHAPTER vill VIM Continued 9 DOC oc morrison Morr lson had been startled rather rath eithan than shocked by the revelation of kay forresta For rests photographic nudity lie he gave aar ear to gossip for or the sole purpose of chiding those who flared flayed the girl and it was doc morrison Morr lson who sternly advised miss the angular owner ot of bev erlys native beauty parlor that it behooved only those who were without sin to cast stones whereupon miss Tr elane being unmistakably without sin indulged in an orgy of stone throwing and declared that she was doing it with does docs approval at the lavish home of jonathan guinn mrs guinn was entertaining the literary circle the good ladies had abandoned their fervid pur nt of culture in favor of a discus on of the previous nights affair diana guinn was an authoritative person and as the wife of the towns foremost industrialist a prominent one it was she who propounded thi the question 1 I wonder what that awful henkel women woman is thinking and who then elicited applause by declaring the meeting adjourned and stating that in spite of the lateness of the hour she was on her way to the white star hotel to get a finger wave from sonia henkel and at the same time to make sure that the imported beautician knew all about the goings on of kirk reynolds reynold bride diana moved through the gathering dusk with firm positive strides she persuaded miss henkel to remain open just a little while longer she delivered herself over to donias deft ministrations and she commenced to talk 1 her voice was sharp her ideas definite and her choice of words ex cellena cel lent to be sure there be no misunderstanding under sta anding she started at the beginning she authenticated her statements by saying that they must be true because no less a person than auth huth hamilton herself had bad spent riat morning on the telephone explaining pla ining to her friends that the whole hamilton family knew what kay had d been doing that miss maynard was an artist not merely a photographer and that she considered the gossip unwarranted through all of this recital miss henkel was silent save for an occasional yes or Is that so but inwardly the tall sleek brunette was smiling she was humming lightly as she left the beauty shop and approached kirks door somehow this latest development seemed to bring kirk closer to her she knocked once lightly and responded to his come in by pushing through the door and closing it behind her he was standing at the window booking booking down on the square his back 0 her she said brightly deep thinking eh kirk he turned and then a look of astonishment passed over her face she stared incredulously then found herself overcome by merriment he smiled thinly so funny she pointed and said through bursts of laughter those E glassell glass lassell esl gee they make you look goofy you ever seen eyeglasses before yeh but not on you she gazed again on the horn rimmed goggles and appear appeared edt to 0 find them irresistibly funny she said the matter cant you read the spots on the dice any more you knew I 1 saw an the other day in the capital and they just got here by special delivery so why should you be surprised im not surprised at the glasses only at how you look in them he glanced at myself in the mir have your laugh kid maybe youre right at that they do change me a lot wait til itil thi the others see you im waiting and im glad youre 0 in a why good humor because ive got news for you so can you take it ivi ive done pretty well so tar far 1 I lie he nodded things are getting pretty hot that scrap at macs bar ar B Q last hist night help any what do you mean its given people something more to talk about abou tand and they were talking too much to start with his voice bec became ame flat im on the spot 1 I know i the laughter was gone from her eyes she took his hand and pressed it lets get out of this burg he shook his hii head no can do labe babe but iveden ive dec decided aided to do something else what his cold eyes eye held hers you a amt nt gonna alk like it not mot a bit I 1 he paused for an instant then im m bringing kay forrest into town youre what im bringing kay into town that thai room yonder ahe he jerked his head toward a door opens into mine ashes moving in there babes lips were dry 1 11 I II I 1 do dont nt exactly get it if kirk its simple enough I 1 made a dumb play at the beginning marry ing the afie girl and letting her go bick back to the gardens that invited talk and the people in this town jow n aint as sappy cappy as I 1 thought they were they doped it out plenty quick and so i so im going out to the gardens tonight and fetch kay all babe walked to the window she wa want kirk to see her face at that moment A few minutes since she had been so 80 gay so confident that her jealousy of 0 kay was groundless now everything was different she was afraid to speak fearful earful that thai she might say too much her hands were behind her back when she turned and kirk could not see the long pointed crimson nails biting into the flesh she said 1 I figure you better look out for trouble he reached for his hat his eyes were the color of ice fee he said remember this babe im always ready for trouble they sat on the veranda barney and margaret and mrs hamilton and jim owenby forcing conversation because they wished to be quite sure that kay would not think they were listening this was difficult of course because kay had been called to the telephone several min i anti x LV if he gave ear to gossip for the sole purpose of chiding those who clayed flayed the girl utes since and her voice vo icelow low and insistent came down to them from the landing and try as they might they could not avoid hearing occasional re remarks marlis but why yes I 1 know but I 1 cant fragments of conversation bits ot of protest in a voice which was freighted with worry they heard kay say I 1 well if I 1 must and they heard her descending sc the stairway slowly only barney looked at her directly and he saw that she was nervous and worried but before he could make up his mind whether to question her she spoke lets take a little walk barney he rose with alacrity surest thing you know need a wrap never mind what now princess 7 she traced hieroglyphics on the lawn with i the toe of one tiny foot she said 1 I want you to promise me something barney consider it promised this is serious ill put it in writing she placed her hand 0 over er his youre pretty fineco you realize that of course cours e I 1 do ive spent my entire life being noble virtuous and dependable in fact I 1 might state that im a perfect example of what the well dressed young man should be I 1 she shook her head 1 I wish things were as simple as that As me simple my dear young lady listen barney her voice was tight 1 I want you to give me your word 1 so you said and I 1 assured you 1 I know but this its different its serious I 1 remember now lets have it eating on you before I 1 explain I 1 want you to promise that you wont do db anything about it he grinned ruefully im becoming expert at doing nothing about things x she looked thoughtfully at the black waters of the lagoon that telephone call was from kirk K irk Reyn reynolds you dont seem surprised should I 1 be she was silent tor for a moment then youre not going to like this barney if by this you mean kirk youre right you must pr promise am ise listen honey lie he dropped his arm from her shoulder and imprisoned one of her infinitesimal hinds hands youre talking in circles ive promised everything I 1 ca can promise youre worried about sOmi something thing suppose you tell papa all about it ita all ali right she groped for words which would not cut too deeply kirk reynolds Is coming here tonight I 1 want you to promise that you wont be at the house when he comes sol why because im afraid there might be trouble not in my own home even here nix honey nix I 1 dont play the hero heio and host at the same time m much uch as I 1 dislike this reynolds gent she said you might tonight how come because she moistened dry lips because hes coming to take me back to bevery with him she see barneys barneis Bar face for which fact the young man was grateful it was dark under the trees dark and still barney tried to speak lightly arn ami 1 l supposed to ask questions it matter you see hes reserved a room at the white star hotel tor for me A room next to his she felt barneys barneis Bar fingers tighten over hers he said 1 I dont get it honey kirk do much explaining he said hed be out wit hinan hour a and nd told me to get ready but this hotel business cant you understand he thinks that folks have been talking 11 and that this will stop their go sip im afraid your friend mr reynolds quite bright he he wants the town to believe I 1 really am his wife 1 I see and im to sit back an and d let you go with him yes there was no mirth in barneys barneis Bar laugh etwas it short and harsh he said ill have to ask a few questions first must you do whatever kirk orders yes why weve talked about that so many times you know I 1 cant explain 1 I see second question do you want to go with him her answer came sharply noll no then he said quietly youre not going but you still dont understand ive got to go like hell you do now you listen to me a few minutes young lady ive been playing the sap plenty long enough I 1 dont like it and most particularly I 1 dont like the idea of you living with kirk reynolds end and morel more im not going to stand tor for it please you promised 1 I dont care what I 1 promised that bird has been pushing you around long enough but theres there Ii nothing you can do no well damn soon find out about that his eyes were hot im going to have a talk with this lad A nice pleasant chat im going to ask a few questions and tell him a few things you why not because you promised and because im asking you two lousy reasons and also because im afraid hes dangerous barney made an impatient ture bad bold guy he mur dered harvey jackson without giving him a chance runs huns around playing big by frightening girls ohl hes tough all right but somehow honey I 1 dont seem to be so terribly scared of him barney listen believe me when I 1 say that anything you do will only make things worse oh yeah and how could they be worse it if anything happened to you im able to take care of myself elf she smiled bravely bi avely barney wa wont nt you do what I 1 ask jut just this once he kissed her id better stay aw away ay from the house until after youve gone he turned and walked away she gazed after his bis tall slender fl figure gure with tear dimmed eyes then she moved toward the house trembling and frightened barney walked along the edge of the lagoon he was more disturbed than he cared to confess even to himself he kicked viciously at a small stone and heard it plop into the black water he stood staring at nothing at au all he ligh lighted teda a cigarette with fingers which trembled and then he be heard a voice at his shoulder a pleasant pie amant genial t voice jim owenby said saw your face in the i malch light birny barney who busted busted up your playhouse barney inhaled deeply then sp spun in his cigarette out over the water it truck struck r the ebon surface spluttered splutter ed hofele hopelessly s sly and went out he asked sharply will you kindly put into plain english jim your opinion 0 ot f what nhat sort of 0 a prime sap I 1 really am sure it help owenby had moved closer he was as tall as barney but broader anu and h avier he said want to talk helles hell es shoot its this beverly mess kie t fel I 1 ephone call kay golwas got was from kart reynolds iles hes on his way out here to take her back to town with him jim whistled expressively and so lies iles taking her to io the hotel wants the town to believe ashes really his wife and ashes willing to go barney tried to be fair not willing but she says she must his voice was edgy she wants me to play the innocent bystander jim made me promise blind that id stay away from the house while kirk was here will you 1 I dont know goehl id like to have it out with that bird just once jim said grimly so would 1 I the man he killed was the best friend I 1 had lie he paused briefly suppose I 1 have a little talk with him barney nope if got to meet that guy be me kay got against it hes got her scared pink she seems to think hes dynamite jim shook his head no matter what else that guy can do hes a bear cat on scaring women margaret has talked my ear off for the past two weeks begging me to keep out of it 1 1 I know and look what im up against good loidl jim suppose it was margaret instead of 0 kay and that she was going into town tonight with kirk against her wishes what would you do 1 I dont know kno 11 yes you do meet him film when he got here mani man A fellows got to do something 1 I know how you feel but suppose kays right suppose there really is something behind all this that we thought ot of well suppose s there Is then for all we know wed be throwing a nice n ice big monkey wrench into the machinery so youre asking me to take it sitting down jim put a kindly hand on his friends arm im not asking anything barney irti not advising anything I 1 dont know what the devil id do it if I 1 were in your place the eyes of the larger man were grim and steady meanwhile im getting busy doing what got to paddle through the gardens two or three of these night I 1 14 1 if anything an thing happened to you vistas im not entirely satisfied with promised myself id give lern em the once over tonight lie he selected a bateau and untied it why not come along barne barney shook his head no thanks any particular reason no just figure id like to tie be alone CHAPTER IX there said mrs hamilton youre all packed kay nodded the packing had been simple enough a few things thrown into her suitcase suit case thrown in gaily as though she were going on a pleasant trip she had tried to smile it off mrs hamilton and margaret had helped as she had known they would she had explained briefly se begged them not to argue against her decision she told them about bar promise to stay outside until after she had left with kirk and although margaret did not comment specifically she hoped that jim owenby would not stumble on kirk A knock at the front door summoned them but it kirk it was kays father and her brother kay opened the door and said ohl oh its you andrew Forrest nodded and ray kay looked over his shoulder at the stalwart figure of her brother andy she said wont you come in and they came in and she closed the d door against the chill of the april night she thought 1 I mut rr alt get them out of here before kirk comes she thought with budden tear 1 i I won der if thay know hes coming V sh thought 1 I wonder why thear here TO BE I 1 |