`From what I recall, and I once did a lot of research on Sickles, the handkerchief waving incident occurred only onceon the day of Key's murder.  In fact, Sickles saw Key waving the handkerchief and ran out and shot him.  The murder itself is better described in the Wikipedia entry for Teresa Bagioli Sickles.  The ``blatantly public`` aspect of the affair was that Key and Teresa were frequently seen alone together in society by mutual friends.  But this was with Sickles' knowledge.  Sickles was neglectful of his wife and grateful that Barton Key took an interest in her, although Key had told Sickles that he thought of Teresa as a daughter.  During their affair, Barton Key and Teresa met for sex in a house on 15th Street.  Apparently all the neighbors were aware that two ``society`` people, a man and a women, arrived separately and used the house for their romantic meetings.  In this respect, it was blatantly publicto the neighbors of the house in that poor mostly black neighborhood.    `