The Weiser signal. [volume] (Weiser, Idaho) 1890-1904, 1904-03-19

there was only the cold. calculated |
interest of man plying his accus-
toned trade, while the face of the
latter quiyered now and then with the
excitement of an experience too
life, to leave his nerves entirely
steady. They made a strange con-
trast walking side by side through
that weird silence of snow and forest,
and yet both were equally alert,
equally in earnest.
At length they came to the object
of their search--the thing that had
once been John T. Wright, "the Cot
ton King" The dead man lay on his
back, his face turned up to the sky
and his staring eyes fixed upon the
black branches of tree overhead.
There was frozen blood in his hair,
and his head rested in dark red
pool that stained the snow. The OFF,
Ger made as minute an examination as
possible without touching the body OF
the dead man. Several blows had
been dealt upon the head with a blud-
reon. There was. no evidence any
| where OF the use of a pistol, though
it was possible that an examination
of the body by the coroner might re-
veal pistol wounds that could not now
be seen on account of the position Of
the corpse. The face of the dead
man had upon it look OF CHASTITY
surprise, which was presumptive evil
dence that the attack had come with
out any warning whatever.
Everything would Indicate" said
the officer, shat the attack had come
from behina. and that Wright fell for
ward and that the murderer beat
him about the head until he killed
him His gun, you see, is at some
distance beyond his head; his hat
fell in the same direction"
at is also evident, / should say
declared Warde, that some one be
sides the old mans son has touched
the body. Judging from the disturb
ances of the snow, which seems to b.
recent, the body has been turned com
pletely over. wonder if the foot
r prints can throw any light upon tn
: subject?"
Young Wright's footprints told
: clear story. he had evidently com
: straight along the path, brushed tn
snow away from the corpse, Disco
: cred who it was, and then hurried o
a to the city. 1t was certain that ,
had quickened his steps after mai
! ing the, discovery, for the tracks wei
:, wider apart than they had been b
|, fore, and there could be no doubt th'
he had not loitered about the corps
! and that,he had not tempered with
. as very few Of his tracks could
seen there. These facts told tn
: much in his favor.
: The unknown person, howeve
g seemed to take deep interest
!. the corpse. His tracks made almo
9 circle around it, and as his 10
"A had slipped here and there in t
49, snow it was evident that he h
- tugged at the body and turned
= over. There was also reason to
81 heve, that he had examined the poe
"a cts of the clothing, as the coat W
q thrown open in such way as
80 suggest that the inside pocket h
nc been rifed, OF at least searched. Th
10 however, could be dismissed as me
W. surmise, for the contents of the POI
~ cts must have been extracted at I
or time of the murder
81 am afraid this clew will I
- amount to much" said the chief
"Why ?"
"For the reason that con mag
ns a very clear explanation OF the
es comer's action. He stumbled by az
dent upon this dead body, with
az face down. Naturally he would tt
" it over the better to see who it "
Failing to recognize the dead man,
&C. would probably search the pock
as to see if there were any papers t
me would lead to his identification"
ig- ST that be the case" said Wal
iao "and this 10 an honest man, VIC
me not his first impulse be to notify
SEES police?"
tic "Yes, or else some of the mel
al bors'
tn. IF he hos notified any OF
WIS neighbors it is reasonable TO SUPP
ust that their curiosity would /
brought them hither by TINS
DDS People, as you know, will walk N
out to see a dead body, specially wi
tie the death involves some horror,
rse there is as yet no evidence that
'wo curiosity exists in this neighbour
Ugh 1t is also certain that the strang'
Ugh in no hurry to notify the police
net he has continued on his way iiss
ar of returning to town. If this
He'd is square he will some time to
ere reveal his identity by notifying
authoIskies."
80 "But he may not be square. he
- be man with bad reputation,
- who knows that his discovery OF
'Ds crime would direct suspicion
~ himself. Or he may have noticed
80 the crime had already been found
~ by some one, Wrights tracks
conclusive evidence Of that"
VIZ 81 oho.,ld not frdOe that the DE