Show I 1 ION BON aej N NEWS FOR A PEEPER L e comet IL by PETE R LANGDALE S OTELLA TEL it was as curious as any u vita w should huld 0 be ba chos left her hubby P a note telling him he can look after himself to inthe the future because het ashes led fed up with his bad temper when he cames comes home evenings and that ashes just about had enough of cleaning and polishing and cooking in a three room flat for a guy chos got as much sense of gratitude as an undertaker has a sense of humor she w was as curious because shed never done this before shed never had time only been married three months and not really long enough tor for a girl to know this all about wh what at happens when a wife ife weeks strand gives her h husband u best the air in writing she wanted to see fiction how bill rea reacted c te d t to that note on the dressing table t a b 1 whether lie he took it on the wn chin and went out to face the world dauntless and wI wifeless feliss or whether he crumpled she hoped hed crumple anyway the best way to s see ee a thing she decided log logically leall F was to ko go to the place where it was happening and keep your eyes open bien been two fifteen in the afternoon noo n when she had written the note and by three fifteen shed changed her mind a few score times packed a suitcase with witha a few clothes just tor for appearance appe aranci and closed the front door behind tier her with a firm dim resolution i never to dar darken ken the threshold again until bin bill went down on an his knees and craved Pard pardon ofil knowing bill was vs due home leorne at five eve the thought occurred to her that unless she hilr hurried ried shed miss the show bhoj ind and if she did that no one would forgive foi give hir her jeas least of all herself 3 the threshold threshold was dark darkened ined once again as she enter entered ed the flat but the she look at it that way after all maybe shed beens beena little harsh with the darling boy perhaps Pei haps there was something in this jaded business man notion or else elie why did movie magnates pictures of them and then the spectre Vaa Jf lashed shed like a lively nightmare through her mind min dhere abere was a chance an awful that bill would kill himself with that gun hed bought during tle the burglar scare he might even tak take 6 to drinking his head off with his pay envelope or put his head in the oven in fact there were quite a number of things he might do and stella began to think shed been led back to the flat by some fate which had a personal interest in the destiny of young couples couple 4 S SHE HE walked into the bedroom and noticed that her missive we was Is still there just where shed placed it on the dressing table so been back yet she way was in time to prevent disaster r and that ugly tollow follow through about insanity which aey th ey always printed in the papers whenever anyone put himself on an the spot glancing around the room the tea only place she could think of to peek from atom was under the bed from this angle by lilting lifting the rills frills of the tha bedcover she had a ringside view ot of the note on the dressing table shed be able to watch BILs reaction when he read the note and then if he stage st ade a horizontal but went to the drawer where the gun was kept instead shed jump out and do her stuff she crawled floor wards and wriggled her way into position too bad she have a cushion or two to help her get comfortable but there space the floor was m mighty gaty hard and it possible 7 7 7 i a a 6 a ap 91 7 she the bed beda a perfect vantage spot for or some peeking to move much because the underside ol of the mattress was so close an inch lower and she have squeezed in at all just as her pose was reproducing the first stage ot of paralysis the front door opened and bill came into the hall with a hearty hello clar lingI you there A few strides and he was in the bedroom he saw the note n te and squinting between the frills of the bedcover bed cover stella watched him read it peer at it turn it over and finally fold it away in his pocket there was dead silence while he stood beside the dressing table staring blankly into space deciding whether to use a gun or the gas fas meter stella supposed she was all set to haul herself out the moment he made for or the drawer where the weapon lay instead he opened his wardrobe sandwith and with a deep sign sigh took out a sult suit a good suit which he be put on stepping out to discuss the problem with a friend thought stella or maybe maybe hed make a date with a pre marriage sweetheart i she thought of dames before but the horror ot of the idea was crushed out of her by bills weight its as he sat heavily on the bed and changed his shoes when hed got thi the second shoe on he began to hum bum it was a snappy light hearted tune the kind a man hums burns when his spirits are on the boom anger welled up in stellas heart he in the least repentant tent A hard insensitive brute who could watch his quarter year bride walk out on him me like so much laundry he had no feelings and she felt elt she care a hoot if 11 he dropped dead on the floor beside her when hed dressed she saw him still humming write something on the back of her note fold it in reverse way and replace it to in its original place on the dressing table then he brushed his suit carefully fixed his tie straight gave himself pe the once over in the mirror and went into the hall immediately the front door closed stella wormed her way out from underneath the bed and snatched at the note this must be some kind of clue to his movements she read is ifs much softer ON the bed |