Show CHI CHILD OF 0 EVIL M M r W W 0 OCTAVUS WS SERVICE ROY COHEN by OCTAVUS roy ROW COHEN SYNOPSIS beautiful young kay forrest has been employed by christine maynard photographer to pose for a series ot of pictures the background ot of which will be exquisite cathedral gardens famous southern resort unknown to them one jeff butler mean unscrupulous swamp angel has led a friend alend to spy on the two women kay ot of necessity Is scantily clad while posing tor for the camera studies kay frequently stays with mrs ruth hamilton her son barley ey ot of whom kay Is very fond and her daughter margaret mrs hamilton a woman conceived the idea ot of the gardens following the death of her husband one night after a local dance kirk reynolds a neer do well gambler of beverly a resort town and kay go for a ride kirks car collides with that of harvey jackson and during the ensuing argument kirk whips out a 8 gun and kills the young popular engineer kay Is completely stunned by the tragedy CHAPTER III HI continued 4 kirk drove on in silence then feeling some better kay 1 11 I 1 I dont know im sick sure you are but there are some things youve got to understand it was an adult talking to a frightened child try to understand this right or jackson is dead you are the only person who saw me do it alad aad youre not going to talk understand no if the truth ever came out 1 feyd eyd hang rrie me harvey jackson 4 9 s popular in beverly im unpopular I 1 have a chance but re merrier remen er this hanging me going to bring him back to life I 1 he was luiet logical she had a fleeting vision of kirk on the gallows the same kirk reynolds who hal hai danced with her that night who hd ba been a part of a gay evening hang me kirk was saying and it do jackson yay vay good A simple statement an unanswerable one he spoke again can you keep it to yourself ill try not enough but if they should suspect get this his voice was suddenly sharp it knifed into her and get it straight youre going to string along with me keys bands were clasped in her lap her figure racked by dry sobs oh kirk it was so awful lay off that im trying to be kind but you wont let me she said will you go away no be a dumb play then know I 1 did it but it if you stay in beverly ive got to and youve got to play along with me his hand fen fell on her wrist youve got to see his voice frightened her the kindliness had gone from it it had become the sort of voice he had used with harvey jackson cold bitter inviting no argument she said 1 I dont understand murder is murder he explained flatly A man can only be hanged once does that tell ell you anything no then listen you saw something tonight you know I 1 dont bluff if you open your mouth to anyone get the same dose jackson got o calmly quietly just like that Ks fayou say a word to anybody ill kill you too she was like one hypnotized but the recent tragedy had been too vividly seared on her young brain to admit of doubt im scaring you because you need to be scared his tone was conversational 1 I want you to realize just what you youre re up against but kirk you no he laughed mirthlessly A man will do a heap of things to save his own hide youre just a kid youre all shot to hell bell by what you just saw youre figuring youve got to talk to someone right kight she said nothing made no gesture he continued you d be likely to teu tell your father or this hamilton guy im warning you dont still she did not answer If tHeres heres why he went on and ont want to make it any tougher on you than I 1 can help only youve got to understand for your own sake ills his hands were tight on the wheel it wont be safe for or any body to know what happened tonight if you tell your old man or barney hamilton try to do something about it that wont be healthy for them but they had nothing to do with ak it be in it the minute you spill a word and remember what I 1 said before they cant kill kili me any deader for killing three men than for lulling killing one that damnable logic again cold statement of cold tact fact put yourself in my place said kirk then know urn bm not bluffing she could put herself in his place that was the staggering thing she knew that he was telling no less than the truth she of an all persons in the world had reason to know that he was deadly and cold blooded she felt terribly young and alone this kirk said is between you Q and me there are liable hable to be questions and youre not to know the answers Is that perfectly clear she said 1 I cant think have time enough for that his words were close clipped but whatever you think always remember this anyone else who knows about this is going to find himself in a lot of trouble 0 beverly is bisected by state highway no 11 which runs due east and west and digresses only briefly at monument square to circle the venerable two story brick courthouse which stands solidly and solemnly under benevolent old oak trees at either end of the town on this highway are new and impressive archways arch ways designed by leading carpenters and flaunting to the tourist world sentiments collaborated on by prominent members of the local chamber of commerce who daily view the fruit of their literary activities tivi ties with pride entering the town from east or west you are confronted by this WELCOME OME TO BEVERLY pop departing the tourist glimpses the reverse side of the same archway and is edified by another literary confection PLEASED TO HAVE MET YOU COME AGAIN TO BEVERLY pop artistically and perhaps esthetically the signs are intriguing however little they might seem to blend with the sleepy tranquillity of the little southern town they are wrong however in one important respect the optimistic chamber of commerce being inclined to ignore cold facts fa acts some I 1 few tew persons resent an exaggeration which defies the federal census of 1830 1930 government figures proclaim to the world that the municipality nici of beverly has residents members of the chamber of commerce declare frequently officially and vehemently that this count is untrue and that there has been deliberate and unforgivable discrimination they appear to believe that such an undercount is a cataclysmic thing affecting the well being of the entire world and their assertion that sity si aty five hundred persons reside in the little town is merely a method of answering this libel all right Is the effect of their statement well tell the world how many people we think we have these sign boards are a direct and proximate result of the successful launching of cathedral gardens with the gardens completed the gravel road leading to them freshly scraped the white star hotel newly papered in spots leading citizens and business men conceived the idea that tourists might come to visit awhile the signs were therefore erected and casual arrangements made to entertain a few strangers but for some reason which beverly never could quite understand the fame of the gardens spread overnight there were other beautiful gardens in the south many of them whose tame fame had been broadcast for decades but there was something about this new place of mrs hamiltons which intrigued the fancy of tourists they came not singly but in battalions they descended upon W A man can only be hanged once the somnolent little town and swarmed about its streets and since beverly was a considerable distance from any large city being therefore a metropolis of sorts the tourists usually remained for two three or four days they visited cathedral gardens in the early morning they flocked there during all the daylight hours and almost invariably they remained in anticipation of moonlight nights when the gardens reached the zenith of enchantment visitors wrote to their friends of course cathedral gardens are beyond description you must see them but when you do come plan to stay a few days this is a queer little town but lots of fun the hotel half bad and theres dancing every night one good picture house and several places along the roads serve barbecue sandwiches which are worth driving a few miles to get there are other things too the proprietor will tip you off if he thinks youre safe believe it or not to a dice game on the second floor regular crap table and its tun fun provided you dont mind losing a little we have stayed five days and were coming back when the azaleas are over and the lotus season begins they say going to be breathtaking andon more than one occasion letters were from gentlemen tourists to other gentlemen who might become tourists these letters touched on another point and in addition to all that im fan old man mad theres plenty of hot cha here it if youre lonely meet miss henkel the beauty operator in the hotel ashes easy on the eyes and boy how tropic 1 the rest is up to to you As a matter of fact the whole thing is a miracle I 1 cant help wondering what the old timers in this burg think of the jazz invasion P S this henkel dame answers to the name of babe what she answers is something else again A word to the wise is foolish it had taken beverly no time at all to become tourist conscious nor to exploit its visitors robbie morse raised the price for his best rooms to two dollars a day and never quite oriented himself to the fact that it was paid without question pleasant homes on streets jutting off from monument square placed signs in their front yards tourists accommodated and some of them assumed names the T he gray house meals beds tor for tourists welcome to ye olde inne chicken dinners and comfortable rooms rooms meals free parking make this your headquarters while visiting cathedral gardens and all of this had happened suddenly and bewilderingly to a town which for more than two hundred years had dozed placidly under southern skies a town which was bordered on the east by big moccasin swamp and on all other sides by tradition a town where busness business had been depression proof and boom proof a town unaware of the outside world except on those infrequent occasions when the nation had indulged in warfare beverly was startled business men applauded plau ded A little roadster having as passengers kay forrest and barney hamilton approached beverly from the east bumped across the railroad tracks and moved slowly up palmetto avenue toward monument square fi quare the square was crowded outside the white star hotel was a fleet of cars most of them wearing the license plates of other states the general trend of passenger traffic was eastward toward cathedral gardens farmers in from the country in rattletrap rattle trap flivvers searched despairingly for parking space and cursed Be verlys new popularity ul the constable on duty at the square made large and frantic gestures in an entirely futile effort to regulate traffic barney asked a question home yes 11 right away yes he said youre funny you even been to town in two weeks and now you have to run home why 1 I must really before you get out he started what well I 1 suppose its none of my business and I 1 swore I 1 going to butt in go ahead barney all right he drew a deep breath wrong wrong with what with you the smile died from her eyes she said nothing tell that to somebody else I 1 1 know there is 11 what makes you think so lots of things it started the day after you went to the dance with kirk reynolds two weeks ago youve been different and you even wanted to come to town until this morning its almost as though you were afraid of something she said maybe I 1 am then spill it you know how 1 I feel about you how she tried to relieve the tension lets put it that im a sap which might explain why I 1 love you her face flushed and she touched his hand ever so gently but darn it dont you see where that puts me I 1 want to help and you wont let me youre stalling she said earnestly im not really theres nothing wrong he shrugged you win ill cheor out barney please he turned on her then his blond boyish lace face serious lets talk turkey kay something happened when you came into town two weeks ago when I 1 drove you in you were bright and happy the next day you came back to the gardens all shot to hell mother and mar garet have both noticed it ive seen it in your eyes youre scared and dont say im wrong either she shook her head you may not be wrong barney but 1 still cant explain kirk reynolds Is mixed up in it he be she was startled what makes you think so ive got to think it whatever the trouble is it started the night you went to the dance with him yes her eyes were somber As a matter of fact barney why im in town today why to see kirk but why the big idea ot of wasting your time on a louse like h him im she said ive got to talk to him all I 1 can tell you the boys eyes narrowed that telephone call you got last night was that from him yes he told you to come in this morning he asked me to and you wont explain eating on you barnebl Bar neyl I 1 cant it that I 1 dont want to 1 I see he spoke gently ils i ls ten honey theres a lot of nasty talk going around regarding kirk reynolds you heard it because you been in town in the last two weeks and I 1 told you but ill tell you this much 1 I dont like the idea of your playing around with him she said 1 I dont either barney but this morning ive got to see him check I 1 wish tell aue what 1 I would if I 1 could he lighted with fingers which were none too steady going back to the gardens tonight yes with me 1 I hope so 00 ill pick you up here at ive oke right so now she put a warm hand over his in brief caress then she jumped out of the car and moved up the ival walkway kway toward the veranda of her home he looked after her with troubled eyes Some things awful wrong he told himself and im going to find out what it is CHAPTER IV mrs emma forrest was a fine woman her friends agreed that she was fine that she had an of those sterling and pious qualities which make for social success and domestic happiness in a town like beverly no one or at least very few persons ever criticized emma forrest she ran her home immaculately dressed well and plainly did ardent church work belonged to a reading circle and was inordinately fond of helping neighbors when there was illness in the house though it was not unknown that after these neighborly excursions she invariably had something to talk about something personal and intimate like the dearth of bed linen or the condition of kitchen plumbing or the shocking failure of the in ill woman to have stocked her pantry shelves with preserves mrs forrest was forty eight years of age she was not fat but she definitely was heavy solid not comfortable for table at au all but solid folks asserted that her face showed strength of character her manner was positive so positive that andrew forrest her r rather ather smallish husband had acquired a chronic submissiveness he never or very seldom argued with emma and on such rare occasions as he did he never nevel won at least emma never acknowledged that he had she was that sort of a woman a thing was waa right because she said it was right TO BE CONTINUED J |