Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, December 1956 — page 145: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

looked at me and’ said, “I know who the killer is.” Neither Kelly nor I spoke. He turned to Kelly, “Tt has to be you, Kelly.” Kelly leaned forward on the shovel with which he had been digging, his eyes bulging. He was truly the pic- ture of madness. “It was you, Kelly, who said that no one had left your room the night Boswain Sykes was mur- dered. You lied and threatened Rollins so he would verify your story.” Kelly cracked; he lunged at the lieutenant with his shovel, screaming, “Liar, Murderer!” He missed but the lieutenant did not. As Kelly lunged wildly by he plunged his cutless through Kel- ly’s throat. The momentum ripped the sword from Benton’s hand. Kelly lay quite still on the ground, a fast-forming pool of blood about his head, his eyes open and rolled back in their sockets, the sword still impaled in his throat, crimson the length of the blade, only the handle reflecting the sun. I stood rooted to the spot. Ben- ton walked over, put his foot on Kelly’s shoulder and pulled his blade loose. I must have been gap- ing rather insanely for Benton looked up at me and said, “Come on Crane, snap out-of it. It’s been a nightmare but we've got our kill- ernow.” I nodded Sebi. How wold I ever know, unless Benton... ? But you did not argue with a man whom you thought might be mad, SIX AND TWO MAKE NINE especially: when he has a bloody cutless in his hand.’ June 18 Benton has been looking at me rather oddly these past two days. He keeps telling me that this has been too much for me, that I must get some rest, sleep. But I’m too smart for him. I go into the woods and doze some during the day pre- tending I have been fishing. | shan’t go to sleep in the same room as that man, ever. Last night he made heavy breathing sighs like — he was asleep but I saw ‘his eyes in the moonlight, staring. June 19 I am the only man alive on this island. I knew it had to be that way. Yesterday my headache re- turned so severely that I went to my cot and fainted. It was noon when I passed out and about mid- night when I awoke to a refresh- ing breeze. My head was bursting but I could still think clearly. Ben- ton was lying on his cot asleep, this time with his eyes closed. ] reached under the mattress and re- | moved the surgeon’s scalpel. | moved as quietly as the night over to his bed, plunged the scalpel in under his left ear and across to the right. ‘Of course I hac to do it; he was the real murderer, wasn’t hae But it was strange how familiar it felt when I plunged the scalpel in and it did relieve my headache. _ 143 Dall Gomichboo ‘S; con