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42New Man in Town

A Place to Live

It was a hundred and ten_________the shade when I arrived_________Flagstaff. The dustwas thick_________. your ankles and the sun was blinding. I got off the bus andstood_________the middle_________the street trying to decide which way to go. A taxidriver stuck his head out_________ his window and asked, "Where_________Mister?"I had no answer_________him, so he offered to take me_________Mrs. Johnson's, a smallhouse_________the old part_________the city. Mrs. Johnson's husband haddied_________the war and her children had moved off_________other cities. She rentedrooms_________single men and was very particular_________whom she letstay_________her house. Being a g raduate_________the Pol ice Academy and a newemployee_________the police force in Flagstaff, I had no trouble getting a room. Mrs.Johnson was pleased to have me "protecting her_________them," as she said. She seemed todefine 'them' as any unsavory element with designs on her property or life. Termitesfell_________this category, and I would spend the first weekend spraying under thehouse___________insecticide.Luck was_________me: I had been in town only an afternoon, and I had already found aplace to live. When I went to work the next morning, I knew my luck had changed. The otherofficers were all suspicious_________the outsider_________ New York. They thought thattheir own honor was_________stake. Thiy thought I was going to come in and show themhow to run a police station. They had to make sure that I understood that they already knewhow to run a police station, I had no argument with that. I was new, very new, _________theprofession. I had everything to learn.

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6Poor Mrs Munsing

I was glad to get back_________Mrs. Johnson's house that night. I wondered if she would be glad to haveme, knowing that I was a low man on the totem pole_________ the station. I sat. _________the porch andwatched the traffic_________the street. It was a side street, so only a few cars would pass. More peoplewalked here than drove. One_________the pedestrians was the woman I had seen_________the police stationthat afternoon. She was carrying a huge sack_________groceries.

"Hello!" I yelled_________her from the porch.She dropped her sack and looked around. She saw me and nervously bent over to pick up the groceries that

had fallen all over the sidewalk. I raced to her side to help her. "I'm so clumsy," she offered as an excuse."I'm sorry I frightened you.""Oh, my nerves have been_________edge ever since Mrs. Fitch was killed. I mean,

ever since she had the accident."I stopped picking up oranges and looked_________her. She met my eyes."I shouldn't have said that. I have no right to say that. Excuse me. I must be going."She had not remembered me_________the police station that afternoon; she was too concerned about her

job and the possibility of being seen talking_________a total stranger. She gathered her bags and hurried_________the street. I returned _________the porch and began thinking_________ the newspaper article thatmy sister had shown me before I left New York: ARIZONA HEIRESS KILLED IN FALL.

My thoughts were interrupted_________my landlady coming onto the porch. "I saw youtalking_________that Mrs. Munsing; she's really crazy. The whole town knows it. She lost hersons_________the war and her daughter was struck_________ lightning and killed. Sad, isn't it? But thewhole thing left her a bit crazy. She drinks, you know. They say when she gets up_________the morning, shehits the bottle right away. And it lasts_________she goes to bed_________night. But she's an excellent cook.I was up there_________dinner one night. On Christmas eve, it was. The invitations were_________seveno'clock, but we had a surprise snow storm that closed the mountain roads, and we had to walk the last fivemiles_________the main house. What a night! I was frozen. I would have turned around and gone back_________my own bed, but I wanted to take a good look inside the house. I hadn't been there since the firstMrs. Fitch passed away. It was dangerous on those trails. They're very narrow, I'll let you know. It's nowonder that the third Mrs. Fitch fell _________the road. And leaving that poor girl all by herself. Lucky shedidn't fall herself."

I didn't understand what she was talking___________. What poor girl? I was very confused. I wished I hadread the newspaper article_________the death.

7From Rags to Riches

The next day after work I went_________the local newspaper office and asked if I couldlook_________their old newspapers. I said since I was new_________town, I wanted to get a sense of itshistory_________reading the news_________the past few years. This article caught my eye:

Mrs. James B. Fitch fell to her death today when walking_________. herstepdaughter_________the family property. The funeral services will beheld_________the Convent of the Little Sisters of the Valley_________10:00 A.M_________Wednesday, the 12th_________April. Expressions ofsympathy should be in the form_________contributions_________theConvent of the Little Sisters_________the Valley. The deceased is survived_________her husband, Mr. James Fitch, and her stepdaughter, Sonia Fitch.

That evening _________dinner J casually asked Mrs. Johnson _________the Fitches. I especially wantedto know_________the stepdaughter and the three wives.

"Yes, indeed, Mr. Fitch had three wives all richerthan Rockefeller, they say. When he married his first wife,he didn't have a penny. Her father was dead set against her marrying that no-good Fitch. He tried to keep themapart. He even sent her_________ a girl's school in Switzerland or some place like that. But when she becametwenty-one, she inherited her grandfather's money; and when she came back to Flagstaff, she had marriedFitch. She also came back from Switzerland_________ a daughter. Italmost killed the old man. Hewas_________the hospital_________weeks. He was going to have his lawyers annul the marriage or disinheritthe daughter. But he died _________his sleep one night. . . and-you know, she, the first Mrs. Fitch, diedshortly thereafter, too. She was flying a plane that disappeared_________the mountains. It was neverfoundagain. Would you like some more gravy_________your potatoes?"

I hated to interrupt her story_________my eating, so I encouraged her to go on."Well," she obliged, "Fitch got this woman in to look after the girl, but I think she spent more time

looking_________Fitch than after the daughter. The girl is blind, you know. She just sits all day_________thehouse listening to music. And people who have been up_________the house say it's always the same song. Itwould drive you crazy. No wonder poor Mrs. Munsing is crazy. That girl is strange. I have never seen hermyself. She didn't come_________the Christmas dinner the night I was there. She always takes her mealsalone. Poor child; it must be a terrible strain not being able to see."

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4.At the Scene of the Crime

The Fitch house was thirty miles outside_________Flagstaff. It was setback into themountains_________a steep, narrow road as the only access_________the property. TheChief said that all the police cars had been assigned to senior officers, so I would have to takea bus. The bus turned off the main road_________we reached the road to the Fitch home, so Ihad to walk the last two miles. The air was cool in the mountains, unlike the stillheat_________the city. But I was hot_________the walk, and I stopped _________the gate tothe private road leading up_________the Fitch home. I sat _________a rock and surveyed thepeaceful surroundings and knew that the Fitch cook must be wrong. This place was too quiet,too peaceful, to be the site_________a murder, let alone three murders._________the otherhand, the motive is classic: husband marries rich women, kills them and inherits theirfortunes. But that would be too obvious. Nothing like that happens now_________thetwentieth century.

My watch told me it was time to get along. I turned_________the drive and slowlyclimbed what I hoped would be the last mile_________the house. I kept telling myself itwould be easier returning.

As I turned a corner, I saw a figure move quickly_________the trees and out_________my sight. The forest was dark, so I couldn't really see if the figure were a man or awoman. It seemed to be a large figure, and he or she wore a straw hat that covered the head.Usually I would have called out_________the stranger, but there was something about theforest that made me timid. I hurried to the house and kept looking_________the right andleftfor another glimpse_________the figure. I came into a clearing and could see thehouse_________a broad expanse of lawn. It was an unusual house for the area. Instead ofbeing one story high and spread out across the lawn, this one was compact and rose like atower_________the hill. _________ the windows you must have a view_________the entirevalley.

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Introduction to Sonia

Like Weeds in a Garden

I looked ____ the room briefly and turned to ask her if most visitors usually spent thenight, but she had disappeared. Maybe they were right. Maybe she was just a crazy oldwoman. I walked to the balcony and looked out over the garden. Darjo had left the porch andwas moving back _________the woods. I wondered if it had been he that I had seen in thewoods. The sun was beginning to set. It was just as well that I was staying the night. I don'tthink I would have found a bus back_________town at this late hour. The sky was clear, and_________the distance I heard the sound_________a small plane. How could a murderhappen in this tranquil setting? Mrs. Munsing must have a very active imagination.

My balcony looked directly_________the garden, and I saw a young woman I hadn't seenbefore_________the porch. She was tend ing the plants and carefully and slowl y touchingeach one. That must be the daughter, I thought; at the same time, I made my decision to startmy investigation with her.

The house was quiet as I passed through the halls and found the door that opened onto thegarden. As I approached the garden, the girl looked up quickly and said _________afrightened voice, "Who's there? Who's there?"

She looked right_________me, or I should say right through me."My name is Dwight. Dwight Smith. I'm a guest_________your father."You must be_________the police," she said. "My father said someone was coming to

investigate." She turned back to her plants. "I didn't recognize your step and you frightenedme. But now I will know it, and you won't be able to surprise me anymore. Nothing surprisesme here _________ the hill. Nothing changes here _________my sensing it immediately."She said this directly_________me, like a challenge, then she moved to another plant andbegan feeling the soil_________the base_________the plant. "You may ask me questions ifyou want. I know all about police investigations. I have listened_________alot_________stories_________ famous detectives. Dwight Smith is such a common namethough. It won't sound very romantic_________the newspapers when they write about all thefamous crimes that you solve."

I laughed and said I didn't expect to find many crimes_________Flagstaff."Then why are you here? You don't believe that these women whom my father married

really died an accidental death, do you?" She didn't wait_________an answer. I think she hadalready lost any faith she had_________me.

"Nothing on earth is an accident. My blindness is not an accident. These plants are not anaccident. Those women my father married were not part of this hill. They were notpart_________the scheme of things; it was obvious they had to be taken away, like a weed -_________a garden.

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7A Review of the Case

I did not sleep well that night. I listened_________every sound. And there were lots _________them. Idecided 1 would not spend another night_________that house. I planned to finish my investigation and leavethat morning. I would let the Chief figure out who killed the wives. But I knew he didn't really want to know.Nobody wanted to know. And maybe they weren't murdered. It all could have been accidental: a missingplane, food poisoning, a fall. But what if someone fixed the motor_________the plane so it would malfunctionat a certain point; what if someone put some poisonous leaves_________the food; what if the third wife waspushed_________the cliff rather than fell? Did the same person kill all three? Or was the first an accident andthe second two murders? Were the last two wives killed_________one person or_________two differentpeople?

I tried to summarize what I knew.Darjo: He hated change. He hated the fact that these other two women were taking the attention

away_________the memory of Amelia Fitch. Maybe he had another motive, though,_________gettingrid_________Amelia Fitch. Maybe she knew something_________his past that she planned to reveal and hewould lose the security_________his job. That doesn't seem likely considering they were both flyers. But yetmaybe he was jealous_________her since she could fly and hi no longer could. I will have to find outmore_________him, even though he doesn't like talking to people . . . especially_________me.

Sonia Fitch: Who would suspect a lovely fifteen-year-old capable_________murder, especially a lovely,blind girl? She does know an incredible amount about poisonous plants, and she could easily have arranged toput some poisonous substance_________the second Mrs. Fitch's food. And she was the onewalking_________the third Mrs. Fitch when she fell_________her death. Her motive was like Darjo's: Shedidn't like change. . . especially when change meant a new mother. It could be the typicaldifficulties_________ stepmother and stepdaughter carried to an extreme.

Ms. Ryan: Here again competition is the motive. She is a very powerful woman, verydetermined_________ her manner. She effectively controis the house, the business, and Mr. Fitch. Sheobviously wasn't pleased_________the prospect_________ sharing her power_________ another woman. Shecould have easily arranged _________some poisonous substance to be put_________thefood_________:_________Mrs. Fitch, Number Two, and could as easily have pushed NumberThree_________the cliff. Yet, Sonia would have been there to hear the struggle, the scream, and the extrafootsteps. _________ her sensitive ears she could have detected the person _________their footsteps. Unlessof course she wanted to protect the murderer. But why would shewantto protect Ms. Ryan? Thefight_________them last night seemed a continuation_________a long struggle.

Mr. Fitch: Yes, finally Mr. Fitch. The man who has the most to profit-_________the deaths_________threerich wives_________course he would give lots of money _________the town. It helps to havefriends_________City Hall if you plan to murder your wives and do not want an investigation. But why wouldhe call up the Police Chief and ask that an investigation be carried out? Did he think that people would listento the crazy Mrs. M n s i n g ? . . . She is probably not crazy, but overcome _________fear. Does she thinkshewill be the nextone_________the list? . . . orwill it be me? Why was the parsley put_________my bed lastnight? Did he call me here to get rid_________a curious police detective that he has no financial controlover? Did he suspect that the Police Chief would not do an investigation into the mysteriousdeath_________the young detective_________New York?_________that he would probably be right.

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