Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1907-02-15

oner. as he took the paper. setter
than usual. Are you ready. Mr. Single
TOM"
Yes" said the district attorney. "Oh,
wait a minute" he added, and he got
up and came down to our table. Yours
going to put Miss Hoiiaday on the
stand, / suppose
And expose her to all this?" and our
Junior looked around the room. mot
If | can help it,
II don't see how you can help 1t. An
alibi's the only thing hat can save
her from being bound over"
wei cross the bridge Then we come
to it," retorted Mr.. Royce. II think
the case against her Will soon die or
hamilton"
..Oh, very WELL" and Singleton abrupt
ly went back to his desk. biting his
mustache thoughtfuily. He had made
something OF a reputation, since his
election a year before, as a solver OF
abstruse criminal problems, and had
secured a conviction in two or three
criminal cases which had threatened Tor
a time to battle the police. He evil
IDENTIFY scented something OF the same
kind here, or he would have entrusted
the case to one Of his assistants. 1t
might be added that, while his success
es had made him immensely popular
with the multitude. there had been.
about one or two of them, a hint Of I'M
professional conduct, which had made
his brethren of the bar look rather ask
ance at him.
He nodded to the coroner after a mo-
ment, the room was called to order and
the first witness summoned.
1t was Rogers, the confidential clerk.
I knew Rogers, Of course, had talked
with him often In a business way, and
had the highest respect for him. He
had been with Mr.. Holiday much long
er tina I had been with Graham 81
Royce. and had, as Mr.. Graham had
pointed out, an unimpeachable reputa-
ton.
There were the usual preliminaries.
name, age, residence and so on, Cor
oner Goldberg, asking the questions.
He was a really good cross examiner.
and soon came to the core OF the mat
ter.
What is the position of your desk
in Mr.. Holidays office" he asked.
There's an outer office for the
clerks: opening from that, a smaller
room where my desk is placed. Open
ing from my room was Mr.. Holidays
private office"
Had Mr.. Holidays office any other
door,"
mo, sir"
Gould entrance be had by the win
dows?"
.oThe windows omen on the street
side of the building. We occupy a
part Of the eighth floor"
The fire escapes
Are at the back Of the building
there are none on the street side
nothing but a sheer wall"
80 that anyone entering or leaving
the private office must necessarily
pass by your desk?"
Necessarily; yes, sir"
Gould anyone pass without your
seeing him."
mo. sir; that would be quite impos-
sible." =
The coroner leaned back In his chair.
There was one point settled.
Now, Mr.. Rogers" he said, will
you kindly tell us, in your own way
n with as much detail as possible,
exactly what happened at your office
shortly before 5 o'clock yesterday aft
ernoon?"
l could see that Rogers was deeply
moved. His face was very white, he
moistened his lips ~nervously from time
TO time, and his hands grasped con-
vulsively the arms Of his chair. Plain
ly, the task before him was far from
an agreeable one.
We'll, sir" he began, I'VE had a very
DuSy udS ytSlSTudJy anu NtI0 at lllo
Office considerably later than usual;
but by 5 o'clock We had closed up work
for the day, and all the other clerks.
with the exception of the office boy.
had gone home. I had made some
notes from Mr.. Holidays dictation,
and a returned to my desk to ar
range them, when the outer door OPP
ened and Mr.. Holladay's daughter
came in. She asked me whether her
Fatha- HyaS n god and unnn nv saw
ing no, opened the inner door and en-
tered his office. She remained, l
should think, about ten minutes; then
she came out again, walked rapidly
past without looking at me, and. 1
suppose. left the building. / finished
arranging my notes, and then entered
Mr.. Holidays office to ask If he had
any further instructions for me-, and I
found him lying forward or his desk.
with a knife sticking in his neck and
the blood squirting u l summoned
aid, but he died without regaining
consciousness-I should say he was
practically lead when l found him"
l felt. rather than heard, he little
stir which ran through the room.
There was an indefinable horror in the
story and in the conclusion to which 1t
inevitably led.
Nov, let US go back a moment"
said the coroner, as Rogers stopped
and mopped his forehead feverishly.
II want the jury TO understand your
story thoroughly. Mr.. Holiday had
been debating to you?"
Yes"
and was quite well?"
"Yes-as we'll as usual. He'd beef
suffering with indigestion for some
time past"
Still he was able to attend to bust
ness?"
all serious in his illness"
Continued Next Week.