MURDER I!
WOPGSTFl/C
CHAPTER V
SYNOPSIS: — John Saxon,
private investigator, ud his
partner Moo wen kind by
the "Hardware” Smiths to
guard Irene Smith, whom hus
band was murdered. Irene was
suffering from amnesia. Kay,
daughter of Irene, explained
Hie conditions to Johnny. Kay
' took Johnny across the bay to
see her uncle, J. T. Smith, who
explained to Johnny that he
wanted the murder solved and
Irene protested and told about
a book that Irene was writing.
J. T. believed that if Johnny
could get Irene Interested in
writing her memory would be
The mechanic glanced at the
bill, shoved it into his pocket
The freckles seemed to grow lar
ger as his face beamed. "You
bet!” Then he added, ‘Til pick
you up right outside the main
gate to the Smith place. Ralph
tells me you’re staying over
there.”
Reference to Kay’s young fri
end reminded Johnny that he was
still awaiting her return.
“By the way,” he said, “Where’d
they go?”
“Probably down to the comer
for a coke. Want me to find
them?”
“All right”
He stood there, looking at the
wrecked car as man hurried out
of the garage. As his footsteps
died away silence was heavy in
me piace.
Johnny had seen a mechanic’s!
long gray jacket hanging on the
wall nearby. He quickly slipped
it over his clothes, buttoned it,
then located one of the flat, roller
skate scooters used for working
under cars.
A moment later he was on his
back beneath the car, using his
heels to move the scooter from
one place to another. His quick,
sharp eyes studied the chassis and
underframe.
And when he came out from
beneath the car, and replaced the
jacket, his eyes were thoughtful
He had found mud underneath
the car —and yet there had been
no rain for a month!
'He heard footsteps approach
ing the garage, recognized Kpy’s
quick steps, and went out to
meet her.
“I’m sorry I missed Uncle
Thomas,” said' the girl.
"What happened?" asked John
ny Saxon.
She indicated the small package
in her hand. "1 had to get some
things at the drug store.”
\ ‘1 mean, what happened to
Ralph?”
“Oh, him,” she said.
“Then he’s not coming over to
night?"
Her head turned toward him
for an instant. “I didn’t say—"
He erinned. “Puppy love’s fun,
isn’t it?”
“That’s what he is!” Kay said
] with emohasis. “A big overgrown
nunnv. He hasn’t any sense at
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aui" Xnen she added heatedly,
“I wish he’d grow upl”
“He will, eventually, you
know."
They walked back toward the
Northport dock. Little puffs of
dust kicked up from their heels
as they cut across a parking lot
adjoining the wharf, where var
ious types of pleasure craft were
tied up. The sun had gone now;
the dusk of early evening was
settling down. Johnny noted two
spots of color in Kay’s cheeks.
Her eyes were turquoise in the
changing light
The ladder was built alongside
the high dock, and Kay went
down first. Her lithe, slim body
was nimble as a boy’s. She jump
ed into the speedboat and held
up a steadying hand as Johnny
followed. The boat rocked when I
he dropped down into the cock
pit
“It’s really a good thing you
can swim,” he told her.
Kay laughed. The seriousness
was gone from her amazing green
eyes again. She slid behind the
wheel and started the engine
while Johnny cast off the line.
They eased out from the high
dock.
Above them, two men sitting
with their feet dangling over the
dock edge, waved. One held a
fishing pole. Kay waved back.
The harbor was quite as a mill
pond. Though darkness would
soon settle down, the afterglow
of daylight still made the dis
tant shoreline picture-clear. It
was a pleasant scene. Johnny set
tled back in the cushions and
passed the girl a cigarette.
“Thanks,” she murmered.
They were moving at reduced
speed, quietly, and the soft throb
of the motor was soothing. John
ny thought riding like this in a
highpriced speedboat, at dusk,
was a nice way to earn a living.
Instead of cutting directly a
crpss the harbor, the girl had
steered the boat along the sweep
of shore line. “Hannah will have
a fit because we’re late for din
ner,’’ she said. “But I always
go back this way—especially at
this time of day. It’s so peaceful.”
'the cigarette was flicked from
Johnny’s fingers and went skim
ming out across the water. A
gentle breeze rumpled his thick
dark hair. His eyes were clos
ed and his head rested back a
gainst the cushions.
“You can drop the anchor if
you care to,”. he murmured
drowsily.
It was fast becoming dark.
Her soft laughter was nice too.
“You wouldn’t like it at night.
The mosquitoes eat you up.”
He heard the slight, swift-pass
ing singing sound, barely audible.
“Was that one of them? They
must be big.”
“What did you say?”
He opened his eyes. The shore
line was perhaps fifty yards a
way. There was no beach along
this part of the harbor only heavy
foliage that grew up close and
high at the water’s edge
“I said—”
Johnny frowned, staring out
across the glass-smooth surface.
Theirs was the only craft moving.
They wer^ limned against the
sky-line as sharply as a silhou
ette. He straightened further in
the seat, still watching the shore.
“Something wrong?” The girl
looked at him with curious eyes.
“I don’t know—”
This time it was closer. You
could hear wood splinter some
where forward in the boat, near
the waterline.
"WJiat was that?” Kay asked
startled.
Jonnny was tense now. As he
reached for the wneel, to guide
the craft harborward, he said,
“Someone’s using a silenced
rifle!”
Xne ping of the silenced rifle,
ripping through the hull of the
of the boat and spattering wood
splinters, was not a nice sound.
Johnny wrenched the sterring
wheel from Kay and swerved the
craft in a sharp curve toward the
middle of the bay.
Fear leaped into the girl’s eyes.
She swiftly fed the boat gas, real
izing his intention to get as far
from the shore as possible.
And, even as the boat started
to leap ahead, wood split atop the
rail, not two feet behind them.
Johnny yelled above the mo
tor’s roar, “Kill the engine. We’re
a perfect target here in the boat.
Swim!”
He thought Kay Smith had a
splendid, alert brain. She had cut
the switch, bent low, and was
lessening her shoes even as John
ny called the warning. He too, had
his shoes off in an Instant. He
jammed them beneath his belt.
The light coat slid from his shoul
ders as he followed the girl over
board. ,
Momentairly, the boat shielded
them from the shore. As the
girl’s head popped to the surface
almost beside Johnny’s, she cried,
“Can you swim?"
“I hope so,” he said, and dived
under again.
He remembered opening his
eyes just below the surface. He
had a swift, distorted glimpse of
Kay, almost beside him, double*!
up as she wiggled out of her
skirt and kicked loose her sand
als. At first he thought she was
having cramps. Then her legs
whipped out in a smooth drive
and she swam under water.
1 jonnny aia incewise, sun noia
I ing his breath. Finally he was
| forced to come to the surface
| again. The girl was beside him
treading water. Both twisted their
heads and looked quickly behind
them.
The boat, drifting, was some
distance away. It no longer offer
ed a screen between themselves
and the hidden marksman some
! where along the shore.
Without a word, Johnny and the
slimly-built girl dived again,
striking out under water. This
time they zigzagged to the left.
Finally forced to come up for air
again, Johnny looked around
swiftly. He thought it was a use
less thing to do.
There was no telling from what
| direction the shots had come. It
was like a marauder using a knife
in the dark — silent and deadly.
Kay was swimming beside, her
face white and strained, “What’ll
we do?”
In the few moments since they
had left the boat, the dusk was
already deeper. This, Johnny
thought, was to their advantage.
It should make the marksman’s
target deceptive.
Ahead of them, perhaps a quar
ter of a milf away, was the cur
ving white strip of beach that
belonged to the Smith estate. Kay
saw his gaze dart that way.
“Can you make it?” she asked.
, “I’ll try. Anyway, I’d rather
drown than die of lead poisoning,"
he told her, grimly serious.
They moved toward the beach
in stages of swimming under wat
er and popping to the surface for
breaths of air. Soon it was dark,
and he knew the riflemen could
not possibly see them now. Yet
the' beach looked a terrific dis
tance away, Johnny thought.
Through his trousers were light
summer tropicals, he considered
loosening his belt and kicking
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them off. They pulled at his legs,
rtut he remembered he was carry
ing close to three hundred dot
.ars in his pockets and decided
jgainst it Also, he didn’t want
to lose his shoes.
It seemed that moments dragg
ed inta hours. Neither he nor the
girl spoke, both conserving all
the breath they could. Johnny
was aware of her labored breath
ing and knew that, even though
she was a good swimmer, the pul
se beat of danger had robbed her
of energy.
They kept swimming.
Darkness was black 'over the
shore when his feet finally touch
ed sand beneath him. He stood up
'in shoulder-deep water, and his
legs felt like something encased
in cement. The girl swayed a
gainst him and clutched for his
hand. He tried to steady her.
Together they struggled to
ward shallow water, both pant
ing with exertion. Finally they
were on the hard-packed, wet
beach. Kay stumbled forward
until her feet touched loose, dry
sand. Then she sank slowly to
her hands and knees. Unnerved
now, she started sobbing.
Johnny sat down beside her,
putting on his shoes. Muscles ,in
his legs and arms trembling “It’s
all right,” he reassured the girl.
‘The guy can’t see us now.”
“I know,” Kay said. “I just . . .
can’t help it.”
He put his hand on her wet
shdulder and took it away again.
His fingers were trembling. He
decided he was in rotten condi
tion to be a detective. Perhaps he
ought to stop smoking.
Johnny remembered his shirt.
He flung his sodden necktie a
way. “Here,” he offered, “put this
shirt around you."
For a moment she did not move.
She was still crying a little. Then
she straightened up, reaching for
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“I can’t see the boathouse,” he I
said. He stared into the gtow
“Which way is—”
(To be continued)
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