Saint Ursula Academy - Scroll Yearbook (Toledo, OH)

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Death In cz Fruit Jar X TI-III poorest section of the town of Little Rock, Uhio, a middle-aged spinster owns a broken-down board- ing house. Her name is IXI1's. Slaxton. There are two boarders who occupy the boarding house. The older fellow. KIr. fXIurphy, is a carpenter by trade. The younger man, meaning myself, is a writer. if and when he's in the mood. lIy cognomen is Johnson. A few weeks ago, possibly two months, I noticed that 1Irs. Slaxton re- ceived a package of papers and a check from her brother. This happened every week. Once I heard her say to the postman that it was from her brotheids business, whatever that was. Ir was about a month after this in- cident that tragedy struck in this ram- bling, crumbling, boarding house. One fine sunny day about noon. I was awakened by a pounding on my door. At Hrst I thought it was thun- der, but when I glanced out of the cracked, dirty window and saw the blazing sun, I deduced it was only XIrs. Slaxton trying to collect another month's rent in advance, VVhen I thought of this, I decided I had better unlock the door. O lr was quite shocking to discover an officer of the Law standing outside my door. I imagine I surprised him even more by appearing in the doorway, robed in bed clothes. He quickly sup- pressed a smile as he took in my appear- ance at a quick glance and I glanced down at myself sheepishly. He then inquired. HAre you XIr. -Iohnson TI Yes-sf, I answered hestitantly. VVould you please get dressed and come down to the front room 7' Of course, I told him, but whats happened W' Your Iandlady's dead, and a 1Ir. Klurphy also. he calmly replied. And with that he left. I started to dress hurriedly, all the while mulling thoughts over and over in my mind. How did she die? Why did IXIurphy die also? Vvhy not me? As I reached the foot of the stairs, I asked the policeman on guard where the bodies were found. -Iust then an- other policeman came from the kitchen and convoyed me into the living room. I looked at his granite face and asked him no questions. I assumed I was un- der suspicion. In a few minutes I dis- covered my assumptions were correct. Q W. . '4' 4' 'l '.' ii' YW' 'I' 1 By Ruth Moore Q'--'O-4k4k.i1P-AF lf 41- PP!! 'I' ku The coroner said she died an acciden- tal death, Klr. Xlurphy had died the same way. They had both eaten some food that was poisonous. Inspector Klulligan of the 47th Pre- cinct asked me the routine questions, which I answered as truthfully as I could. This took about an hour, after which I made plans to move to a Page Thirteen

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Bobbi Gal Q OMAYNE could see her moving about the inner office, her slim hands tucking letters into Bob Spencer's personal file-a job that once had belonged to Romayne. Sally An- derson, beautiful, blonde, and young, had been with the company for a month now. Romayne Watsoii was pretty but not beautiful and to top it all off, today she was thirty. This frightened Ro- mayne, because youth was slipping away and Bob Spencer along with it. Sally. her blue eyes laughing over some delightful secret, Came into Ro- 1nayne's department then. Romayne was fascinated by her. Once she had felt young and gay like that. 'Could I help you, Nliss Watsox1?l' Sally questioned as she perched on the edge of ROIIIZIYIICYS desk. I've nothing to do till the fBig Shot' gets here. K'VVhy yes--thank you,'l Romayne said as she handed her some invoices to check. It sounded funny to hear her call Bob a KBig Shot', But after all that's wh-at he was now. Romayne shifted uncomfortably. 'WVhat's the matter? Sally asked. Aren't you feeling well, lVIiss Wat- S011 :Nl 1'IVhy, l'in all rightf' Romayne an- swered quickly. She was all right too, only there was Bob. She had been in love with him for the last ten years only to have lost him. 'AYou1' eyes look tired, Sally stated. There was a pause then which Sally Anderson broke. 'fYou've been with the company a long time, haven't you, llfliss VVatson 7' f'Yes. for ten years. Then you must have been here when Klr. Spencer transferred to this office? 'KI came shortly afterwards, Ro- mayne explained. The girl was studying her between invoice checking, and Romayne felt un- Page Twolve -Rosa BIARIE DAUNHAUER '46 s 4 Q easy under the gaze of those direct young eyes. just then the door opened and Bob Spencer came in, tall, broad-shouldered, but very slim and youthful in his dark business suit. Good morning, Nlr. Spencer, Sally sang. Do you know this Wilsoii Pro- duce invoice is off fifteen dollars?', 'fWhose favor? UOurs,'l Sally answered, HShall I call their bookkeeper ? No, Bob said. They'll find it- and now will you excuse me I have some letters to writef' The door closed behind Bob and Sally, but Romayne could see them through the glass partition, though no one could tell she was looking. Bob was deeply attracted by the new girl. But then held gone with other girls off and on. Usually the daugh- ters of wealthy business men. Romayne had some reports for Bob to sign so she gathered them up neatly, turned and entered the inner office. She entered Bob's office and then re- treated a step, shocked at what she saw. There was Sally staring straight at Bob, her slim hands clenched, her face white. 'fYou are dishonest, a crook! she cried. You're a cheat and I won't work for you any longer. Sally turned -and then she saw Ro- mayne standing, shocked, in the door- way. And you,'l she said to Romayne, you're crooked too or you wouldn't put up with it this long. Bob was on his feet now and burst out. I must say, Rliss Anderson, this has gone far enough. The girl simply scorched him with her glance and turned back to Romayne. VVhy don't you get wise to your- self? she asked. You can carry a torch too long, you know. CContinued on page 361 H

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boarding house at the other end of town. I had to wait there until they removed the bodies and then was grant- ed permission to leave. Upset and nervous as I was, I found I still had an appetite. I ate a hearty dinner in a small restaurant , as the sign read. Upon leaving, I slowly walked to my new abode. A few weeks later I came home from a jaunt to the bank and went to my room, hardly expecting to be confronted bytwo burly men who said my presence was requested at the Police Station. Upon recovering myself, I said, Hsurely, Ifll be glad to -accommodate you, gentlemen, but would you mind if I washed up a bit first ?!' They looked at each other and gave a silent approval. I smiled at them warmly. I took my leave and walked to the lavatory -at the end of the hall, silently locked the door and got my-! But what is this? Someone rapping on the door. f'I'll be through in a minutef' I called. Unlock the door a minute, Johnsonf! answered the voice on the other side of the door. Then, and only then, did I know that I had been discovered. I grasped a razor blade, and quickly slashed my wrists again and again, Then my ankles. Hurry! They'll be getting help. Oh! Things are beginning to get hazy. They're at the door again! Too late! Crash!! The door gave way to faces bobbing in front of me. f'Too late! I screamed at them, 'ftoo late! YVhen I regained consciousness, my wrists and ankles were swathed in ban- dages. and there was an armed guard sitting outside my door, and one stand- ing -at the foot of my bed. At first I wouldn't tell them why or how I had done it, but then I knew I was going, and I wanted them to know just how clever I was. Here is the story: One night I discovered quite by acci- dent Klrs. Slaxtonfs secret cache of money. I had been dozing in a chair and when I awoke, it was well after Page Fourteen dusk. I reached out to turn on a lamp, and because I couldn't see very well, I knocked it to the floor. As I fumbled around to reach it, my grasping fingers encountered some paper-a wad of pa- per. I anxiously turned on the light. A roll of one-hundred-dollar bills glared up at me invitingly. I stuffed them into my pocket, as I heard footsteps in the h-all. Whats the matter. called Nlrs. Slaxton. Did you drop something? UNO, I lied, I only bumped against the lamp.'! I sauntered into the kitchen and talked to her for a short while, and then, because I could no longer stand the money burning in my pocket, I went upstairs to my room, closed and locked the door. I stumbled to the dresser, turned on the light, and pulled the money from my pocket. I nervously counted it-one thousand dollars. I fell back on the chair, stunned. I had no idea it was such a large amount. It was then I remembered an article I had read in an old magazine about food being poisoned in .a natural sort of way. I hunted through the pile of magazines on the stand. Ah! Here it is! Here's the page! I mused. Botulism is poisoning from eating meats, fish, or vegetables in which a specific bacillus has developed. This can happen, espe- cially in home cooking, when you do not cook the food and pack it in jars immediately!! The dangerous thing concerning botulism is that it does not change the color, nor the odor of the foodf' I concluded half aloud to my- self. Then I proceeded to think of what would happen if I did exactly what it said not to do. I knew IXIrs, Slaxton had canned a few pints of tomatoes from her meager garden. Yes, I murmured to myself, now you are using your brains. gn Y! I took a stroll that afternoon and passed a small, weather-beaten farm. A fence, or what looked like the re- mains of one, enclosed a- Well, of all things, I exclaimed, 'fa lovely little tom-ato patch! Arriving at the hotel later in the day, I cautiously inquired of Nirs. Slax-