added diffidently, “I’m not the kind to talk about people, Miss Kitty,
but if you were my sister I wouldn’t want you to be letting him take
you home from Canteen, or anything like that—not Punaro!”
“Thanks for the hint, Ned.” She wanted to ask him more but didn’t know
how without betraying those she felt she had no reason to suspect. They
parted in the lobby as Kitty turned off toward her father’s office. But
she thought how odd it was—that at almost every contact she made, the
tangled web of clues she was picking up became more bewildering.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER EIGHT
WHAT’S IN A TITLE?
When Kitty told Hazel about the shortage of girls at the USO on that
stormy night her friend said, “Stop by for me next time you go to
Canteen. My evenings are rather lonely. I’ll be glad to help entertain
the boys.”
“I’ll have to get a card for you, but that won’t be any trouble,” said
Kitty.
However, Hazel’s remark about her lonely evenings left Kitty somewhat
at sea. Her father was away from home several evenings a week, and she
had thought he was spending them with Hazel. Now she felt she had been
mistaken.
Next time Kitty was on duty at the Snack Bar she went over to the
hospital for Hazel, and together they walked the five blocks to the USO
hall. As they walked along the main street in the twilight they caught
glimpses of the docks, with their dimmed boat lights at each street
intersection.
“I love living here, don’t you?” said Kitty.
“Under different circumstances it would be quite an interesting post.”
“Under different circumstances?” Kitty’s tone implied her puzzlement.
“I’m in rather an awkward spot, you know. My brother had a very
unpleasant time here—was blamed for something of which he was
innocent.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Naturally I still feel the cloud hanging over me. I’ll never be quite
happy till my brother is cleared.”
“Is there anything I can do? I wish I could help.”
“I’m afraid there’s nothing anyone can do outside the service.”
Kitty wanted to ask for more details, but the tone of Hazel’s last
remark suggested that the subject was closed. In fact she felt very
much surprised that her friend had been as frank as she had about the
matter.
At the USO hall they separated for a while, Hazel to help amuse the
boys while Kitty went into the Canteen quarters. When she slipped off
her coat and put on her apron, she went out to the bar to find Ned
Miller waiting for her. He seemed as bright as a sunny day after a long
rainy spell.
“Miss Kitty, you’ll never guess what’s happened!” he exclaimed.
“Your wife and baby aren’t flying to Palmetto Island already?”
“Oh, no, nothing so marvelous as that, but surprising enough.”
“Then spill the news, Ned, and don’t keep me in suspense,” she
encouraged.
“The Harpers have asked me to be godfather for their son.”
“Oh, Ned, that’s super!”
“Imagine me a father and a godfather all in one week!”
Judy, Sally and Mrs. Evans drew nearer to add their congratulations to
Kitty’s.
“You’ve all got to drink a hot chocolate with me to celebrate,”
continued Ned proudly. “It’s on me this time!”
Mrs. Evans poured the chocolate, and topped it with an unusually
generous spoonful of whipped cream.
“This is on the Canteen,” she said, and they all made merry over the
great event.
“You must all come to the christening a week from Sunday at the little
chapel a block from the hospital.”
Hazel came presently and took Ned off for some dancing. As Kitty
watched them go there was a tender light in her eyes. How happy she
felt to realize that she had made the sun break through the fog for at
least one boy!
During a lull in business some time later she drew up a stool and
watched the activities in the large hall. At the right in an open space
around the piano a dozen or more couples danced while a marine kept the
keys warm with his nimble fingers. In the space directly in front of
the bar were tables where couples and foursomes played all manner of
games. Some boys lolled on couches or in large armchairs with books or
magazines, while others sat at desks against the wall, writing letters
home, apparently unmindful of the confusion around them.
Presently Kitty’s survey was checked as her gaze came to rest once more
on Lieutenant Cary playing chess again. This time the players were
sitting so she could see the profiles of both men. Instantly she
recognized the physician’s partner as the dark-faced boy, Punaro, whom
she had seen on the bus that memorable night before the big fire at the
cannery.
The last time she had noticed Cary here he was playing with Chief
Commissary Steward Krome. She wondered why he was on such intimate
terms with the galley staff. Presently she was aware that Hazel Dawson
had returned to the bar and was sitting on a stool across the counter.
“Does Lieutenant Cary come here very often?” she asked.
“Only occasionally.”
“Does he always play chess with someone from the galley?”
Kitty sent Hazel a surprised glance. “Yes, both times I’ve seen him
playing. The other night it was the Chief Commissary Steward, Krome.”
“I can understand that. Krome has his rank. But tonight he buddies with
the boy who empties our wastebaskets.”
Kitty bent closer and lowered her voice. “Do you know anything about
him—the Punaro fellow?”
Hazel showed surprise at the question as she countered, “Why do you
ask? Do you know anything about him?”
“He was here the other night.” She thought of adding that they had come
home on the same bus the night of the cannery fire, but caution
silenced her. There were too many around who might have keen ears.
Brad came in later.
“You’re almost a stranger,” Kitty greeted him.
Hazel went off with one of the boys who claimed her for a dance, and
Brad leaned closer.
“I was too busy to come sooner, but I wanted to get over here in time
to see you home. Something to tell you.”
“I brought Hazel with me. We’ll have to take her back to the hospital
before we can talk.”
“Sure.”
“Glad you came,” she added after a moment. “You can go with me to hunt
up Chief Krome. He promised me that shrimp creole recipe.”
“Yeah! Sure, we want it for that picnic tomorrow.”
“They say the only way you ever get a recipe out of Krome is to go
after it. He looks too easygoing to let the mild matter of a promise
like that weigh on his mind.”
“Sure is nice of you Canteen girls to go down on the beach and fix that
supper for us tomorrow. Ned Miller’s looking forward to it, too. You
sure lifted his countenance, Kit.”
Kitty flushed. “Oh, I guess I got as big a kick out of it as he did.”
There was an awkward pause and she looked about for something to change
the subject. Finally she nudged Brad’s arm and whispered, “Take a look
over in the south corner at those chess players.”
Brad glanced at them and whistled softly. “The trail grows warmer,
Kitty.”
“Find out anything about Punaro?”
“Plenty. But we’ll save that till later. But when you see two suspected
ones hobnobbing it begins to look as though something is brewing.”
An hour before closing time Kitty saw the chess players leave their
board and go out. They hadn’t patronized the Snack Bar all evening.
That was one night Kitty was glad when it was time to go home. She had
had no opportunity for a private talk with Brad for some time, and she
had much on her mind. At the hospital they left Hazel at her door and
took the elevator down to the basement.
“Surely am glad you came along, Brad,” said Kitty. “I wouldn’t like to
be hunting up Chief Krome at this hour of the night by myself.”
There was no one in sight when they got off the elevator at the
basement floor. “I’ve never been down here before,” Kitty remarked, as
she followed Brad toward the Chief Cook’s quarters.
“Quite a nifty arrangement,” Brad explained. “Extending out front this
wing of the hospital is a platform running right down to a dock over
the water. Supply boats come almost right up to the building. Saves an
awful lot in transportation of fuel and food.”
Kitty felt no particular interest in what Brad said. She was eager to
get the recipe from Krome and return to the street where she and Brad
could talk without fear of being overheard. Brad knocked on Krome’s
door several times, but got no answer.
“Must be out,” Kitty said, disappointed.
They were about to turn away when Ned Miller came running down the
stairs. “Looking for Krome?” he asked, seeing them outside the Chief
Cook’s door.
“He promised me that shrimp creole recipe, and they say I’ll have to
run him down to get it,” Kitty explained.
“I’ll go ask him for it for you,” offered Ned, eager to be of service
to Kitty. “I saw him up in the recreation room as I came through,
playing chess with Lieutenant Cary.”
“Oh, you did!” exclaimed Kitty.
But Ned was already hurrying back toward the stairs. They were about to
follow when Brad said, “Come, while we’re down here I’ll show you the
dock.”
Not wanting to be rude enough to tell him it didn’t interest her in the
least, Kitty followed Brad toward the double doors that stood wide open
at the end of the cement passage. There was only a shaded light
outside. Her first impression was a confused one of several barges
huddled against the dock piled high with boxes, crates, kegs and all
manner of freight.
Then suddenly she saw a man at one of the barges. Her pulse quickened
when she noted it was filled with refuse. The man had his back to them,
pushing something onto the barge. It seemed to be a large box, but
Kitty had only a glimpse for the man threw a strip of old sail over it
and turned sharply at the sound of their footsteps. As he came toward
them there was indignation in his very stride.
“What do you want here?” he growled.
As he spoke and came nearer the glow from the hallway, Kitty recognized
Punaro, who less than an hour ago had been playing chess in the USO
hall with Lieutenant Cary.
“We’re looking for Krome,” said Brad with aggravating nonchalance.
“He’s not down here,” stated Punaro. “You’ll find him up in the
recreation room playing chess with Dr. Cary.”
“Thanks. Thanks a lot,” Brad said, and Kitty wondered why his thanks
was so profuse.
When they went down the hall they found Ned returning from above.
“Chief said if I’d bring his recipe book he’d find the thing you want
and let you copy it,” Ned explained. “He’s just about to checkmate
Lieutenant Cary and can’t leave his game right now.”
When Ned went into Krome’s quarters Kitty whispered to Brad, “Did you
notice anything queer out there?”
“Plenty.”
“Punaro throwing a strip of sail over a box on the barge?”
“You’d make a grand detective, Kitty!”
“And I noticed more, but we’d better wait till we get outside to talk.”
Lieutenant Cary sent them an unwelcome look when they went upstairs,
but Krome was quite good-natured about the interruption. He handed
Kitty his own pen and a bit of notepaper on which to write the recipe.
He chuckled and advised her to spice it up sharply for the boys.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration: _“What Do You Want Here?” Punaro Asked Them_]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
When at last they were outside in the cool moonlight Kitty slipped her
arm through Brad’s and whispered, “There’s something mighty queer going
on.”
“You’re telling me!”
“I wouldn’t trust that Punaro one minute! I’ll bet you a hundred
dollars he’s sneaking something out of the hospital on that barge.”
“What and where to, it now becomes our job to find out.”
“Did you notice anything queer about his knowing instantly where Krome
was?”
“I’ll say. It looks to me as though Cary got Krome tied up in that
chess game while Punaro does what he pleases in the galley.”
“That’s a wise deduction, Mr. Holmes, but Dr. Watson noticed something
else.”
Brad laughed in spite of his uneasiness. “I’d call you the Sherlock
Holmes and me Dr. Watson. You were the first to begin picking up clues.”
“Strange how so many things have come up to make me know something’s
wrong. Even Ned Miller warned me the other day when I mentioned
Punaro—that I mustn’t ever let him bring me home, that he’s not my
kind.”
“Ned’s in a position to know, Kitty, right down there working with him.
And say, this is what I wanted to tell you up at the Snack Bar.”
“Go ahead. I’ve been bustin’ to hear.”
“I noticed Punaro’s shoes the other day when he came in to empty our
wastebasket. There’s a scorched streak across them, but he’s evidently
tried to polish it away.”
“And you really think it could have been caused by a spark igniting
spilled gasoline or kerosene?”
“It’s possible, yes. But doing work like his, it might have been
spilled acid, too. I’m afraid the circumstantial evidence there is far
too weak to blame him for the cannery fire.”
“Of course. But later developments seem to prove that my suspicions may
not be entirely unfounded.”
“Say, you were going to tell me something else you noticed out there
just now.”
“Do you realize he called Cary, doctor, not lieutenant?”
“You’re right—he did!”
“Everybody else round here calls him lieutenant—those who’ve only
known him since he came into the service.”
“I’ll say your perception is very keen, Kitty. It seems proof that Cary
and Punaro knew each other before they came into the service. I’ll try
to find out where they both hail from.”
“Do, Brad, if you can. This thing is beginning to look very serious.
We’ve got to find out what it’s all about.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER NINE
INTO THE MARSHES
Kitty had so much on her mind that night she couldn’t sleep until after
one o’clock. She didn’t even hear the alarm clock next morning, and was
roused by the sunlight streaming across her bed. She pulled on her
bathrobe and ran to the kitchen.
“What time is it?” she asked Jane.
“Eight o’clock. Yo’ Pah done et breakfus and went to de horsepital.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“Wa’n’t no use to bother you. You wus sleepin’ jus’ like a sho nuff
kitten.”
“But there was something special I wanted to talk to Dad about this
morning.”
“You’ll see him tonight.”
“But I’m going with a bunch of Canteen workers to fix supper for the
boys on the beach late this afternoon.”
Kitty had just started back to her room when the phone rang. She found
it was Hazel Dawson.
“Listen, dear, I heard you say once you always go to town on Saturday
morning,” came her friend’s voice over the wire.
“Yes, I do. Is there anything I can get you?”
“If it wouldn’t be too much bother, I’d like you to get me a set of
chessmen.”
“A set of chessmen?” Kitty could not hide her surprise. Chess had
become intimately associated in her mind with Cary and his partners.
Hazel laughed. “In my old age I’ve suddenly decided to become a chess
fan.”
“It does seem to be quite a fad around here,” admitted Kitty.
“I haven’t any way to get the money to you before you go.”
“Oh, that’s all right,” said Kitty. “What price do you want to pay?”
She recalled that her grandfather’s ivory chessmen had been very
valuable.
“Oh, the cheapest ones you can find will do for me, plastic or wood
will be all right. I only want them so I can learn the game.”
As Kitty put down the phone after this unusual request, she wondered
what was behind it. She had no doubt that Hazel’s motive in learning
the game had some connection with Lieutenant Cary’s chess playing. Yet
the two made no pretense at friendship.
Though she had missed her father at breakfast Kitty was determined to
see him before she went to town, so she decided to go to the hospital.
By nine she had eaten breakfast and was ready for the weekly shopping
expedition.
“Is you gwine to tek Billy to town wid you?” asked Jane seeing Kitty
dressed so early.
“Yes. He has to have a new pair of shoes. Hope I can get some
non-rationed ones. He’s already used my last coupon.”
“Dat boy can sho stomp out dem shoes.”
“You’d better wake him up and give him breakfast by the time I come
back. I’m going to run up to the hospital to see Dad a few minutes.”
All the guards and attendants at the hospital knew Kitty as the
daughter of the Chief Pharmacist’s Mate. She always gave them a smile,
a jaunty salute and passed in without comment. A few minutes later she
slipped noiselessly into her father’s office. He was busy going over
some order sheets with a junior officer, so Kitty sat down near the
door till he was at leisure.
“See you in a few minutes, Kitten,” her father said when the petty
officer went out and his stenographer came up with some letters to be
signed.
Kitty thought how wonderful it was to live where she could occasionally
drop in on her father at his work. He had not finished the letters when
the door was opened wide and to her amazement young Punaro stepped in
and picked up her father’s half-filled wastebasket. He didn’t see her
till he turned to go back to the hall, where he had left the large
canvas-sided container which he rolled along the halls to collect trash.
By the ominous look he sent her she knew instantly he recognized her as
the same girl who had come upon him unexpectedly at the galley dock
last night. Before he came back with the empty basket her father called
her to his desk. He waited a moment till Punaro closed the door.
“What’s on your mind, Kitten?” he asked, dropping his professional
manner like a mask.
“Plenty,” she said. “I don’t like that Punaro fellow coming into your
office for one thing.”
Her father threw back his head and laughed. “Now, now, you mustn’t be
suspicious of everyone who has a slightly olive cast to his complexion.”
“He has a very Italian name, too.”
“You seem to forget they’re fighting on our side now.”
“Yes, but some of them here are still friends of the Hitlerites.”
Knowing from experience that money could often make a person forget
unpleasant things Mr. Carter took out his billfold. “Guess you’d like a
little change for the trip to town.”
Kitty laughed. “You’ve never known me to refuse money, have you, Dad?”
“Not yet.” He handed her a bill. “You might get Billy that ball and
mitt he’s been begging for. It’ll soon be warm enough for him to play
outdoors all day. Maybe the ball will keep him from climbing so many
trees.”
Kitty smiled. “He’s a regular monkey when it comes to trees. When I
take him to the park he picks out the tallest and climbs up it like a
cat.”
“I’m afraid Nina spoiled him, letting him climb that old magnolia in
our yard back home.”
“Dear Aunt Nina, how I miss her.” Kitty sighed as she put the money
into her purse. “Yours is the second order for playthings I’ve had this
morning.”
“Why? Billy ordered something else?”
“Not Billy. Hazel Dawson wants me to get her a set of chessmen.”
“Hazel wants a set of chessmen,” he said, puzzled.
“Seems to be getting quite a fad. Lieutenant Cary plays every time he
comes to the USO hall.”
“Oh.” Mr. Carter’s tone carried a world of meaning.
“Oddly enough it’s generally with someone from the galley. First it was
Chief Krome and last night it was that young fellow, Punaro, who was in
here just now.”
Kitty’s watching eyes caught the surprised look that came into her
father’s face.
“Dad, how long has Punaro been in the service?”
“I don’t know. Two or three months, I imagine.”
She felt he was annoyed with her, but couldn’t keep from saying, “It
doesn’t take so many months for them to show their true colors, does
it?”
“Why so much interest in this raw recruit?”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration: _Kitty Caught the Surprise on Her Father’s Face_]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Some things have happened recently to stir my curiosity,” she answered
evasively. Her father’s attitude repelled her further confidences, nor
did she feel this was the place to talk too much. But she was
determined to learn the one fact for which she had come.
“I must go now, Dad. But tell me one more thing.”
“Anything you want to know except military secrets,” he replied,
becoming playful again, because she was so serious.
“Why do they haul the hospital refuse away on a barge instead of
burning it in the incinerator as they do in other hospitals?”
“We had an explosion at the incinerator several weeks ago. For some
reason they’ve been slow in getting it fixed.”
“I see,” said Kitty with a significant nod. “And in the meantime I
suppose the garbage is hauled off somewhere in the marshes and burned?”
“That’s right.” Suddenly her father’s face became very serious, and he
sent her a penetrating glance. “What are you driving at, Kitty, with
all these strange questions?”
“Haven’t time to explain now,” she said evasively. For so long Kitty
had had to solve her own problems, when her father was at distant
stations, that she had not yet learned how to make a confidant of him.
Nor did she want to run the risk of having him put a stop to her
investigations. But she made bold to ask one further question.
“Do you know where they haul the garbage, Dad?”
He led her to the window and pointed across the marshes. “See that
smoke on the horizon.”
“Yonder—way south?”
“That’s it. That’s where they burn it.”
“Why so far away?”
“We couldn’t stand the stench if it was too close. Even at that
distance a southwest wind will bring the odor into my window. I’ll
surely be thankful when they use the incinerator again.”
Kitty’s mind was clicking like a teletype machine as she left the
hospital. She hadn’t used their boat in a week, and felt she was
entitled to a little gasoline for explorations.
Billy looked forward to these weekly visits to town with keen delight,
so Kitty didn’t have the heart to curtail his enjoyment. They paid
their usual visit to the toy department at the dime store, and took a
peep at the ducks in Bayshore Park. At noon they ate at a lunch
counter, perched on high stools, which Billy adored. Afterward Kitty
made her weekly food purchases at the grocery store on Bay Street,
opposite where she always left her boat.
When the grocery boy had packed her things into the launch Kitty looked
at Billy, gave him a knowing wink and asked, “Want to go exploring?”
“Oh, Kit, where?”
“You’ll see. ’Way into the marshes.”
Billy’s eyes grew round. “Into a cove or somepen, where pirates hide
their booty?”
“No telling what we’ll find ’way off in the marshes.”
It was already one-thirty, and at five Vera was to pick Kitty up for
the trip to the beach. She would have to do her exploring in that
interval of time. She had made a careful note of the location of that
smoke smudge on the horizon, as her father pointed it out from his
office. However, Kitty didn’t feel sufficiently familiar with the
marshy inlets to take a short cut to the spot. She decided the safest
course was to return near enough to Palmetto Island to get her bearings
from there, and seek out the channel through which the barge from the
hospital traveled in going to the dump.
“Aren’t we gonner explore?” Billy asked in a disappointed tone when the
smoke stacks of the Marine Base came into view.
“We’re going to turn off into this inlet right here,” Kitty reassured
him.
A bit of wind was blowing, making whitecaps dot the deep green water.
Though the weather was pleasant enough ashore, there was a sharp tang
on the water that brought a glow to their cheeks.
In the narrowing inlet southwest of Palmetto Island, Kitty had to cut
down her speed to keep from running aground in the curving channel. She
had never been in this section of the marshes before, and she thought
how easy it would be to get lost on the crisscross winding inlets that
interlaced the marshy islands. Most of these green mud flats were
treeless, but far off in the direction of that smoke smudge, which was
her destination, the horizon was broken by palmettoes and pines.
“Where’s the pirate’s lair?” Billy finally asked, growing impatient to
reach some destination.
“We’re almost there,” Kitty assured him. They were near enough now to
see two or three spirals of smoke rising from a mound of rubbish dumped
on a sloping shore.
Fortunately the wind was out of the east and carried smoke away from
them, so Kitty had a clear view of the dump. She shivered to see
buzzards circling above the smoking pile of refuse. What a fitting
place, she thought, for spies to meet for their diabolical planning!
Had some foreign agent met Punaro here this morning to take away that
box of supplies she had noticed on the barge?