Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1907-06-13
gY GEORGE sA.RTcu.

thnusfi-n upilir fi.iS. II, .'te tie iloi.-c
ear', ncxt Imorrins. - VIZ. fis custom.
hr stepped en- his WAY down Gown to rod
the bulletins in the windows of Tie no"s-
paper offices.
The first oac brought forth an o.cla@sa-
tion OF amazemrnt. II announced ~ sud-
d"a and mysterious death Of John Wolcot,.
Of the big wool firm If Wolcott * CO.
Pa"ncs. fun of wonder. waited with i'm
patience for the carly editions of the after
noon papers As they cainc out h. greed
liz drVourod The Columns of matter thoy-
printed concerning the dead merchant and
his affairs. 1t was related ,hut he had been
restless snd i'll al ease for days past. His
,oung partner. Austin Gates. reluctantly
admitted that much. Later came ruinors
mat ;he accounts of the firm were not IN
the best of shape. Tho particulars OF the
case were given with great vir.dness. Vol
cot had been found lfclcss on the floor
Of his library. y Vivid mark was found
around the neck of The dead ,nan-a mark
that might nave been made by a tightly
drawn towel or a rope. All of those sieni-
icant details. said the reports. LED To the
one segre;iable conclus.on-su.cidc.
Before an hour had gone by Barnes con
flded TO CLANCY his intention of making a
private Investigation into the circum-
stances attending the mysterious death Of
John Nolcott, In less than two hours he
had found Il new factor N the case i'm the
person of Rose Wolcott. the daughter OF
tho dead man. Wolcot; had led such an
unobrrusive life and had avoided society so
persistcntly that only his closest acuuain.-
ances were aware of the fact that he had
Il daughter.
one of these was Austin Gates. as the
young woman weepinCly confided to the
CUlpt illSDtctor. She said that Itir.nr tbn
few months prior to his death her father
had repeatedly urged upon her the desira-
bility of a marriage with his young part
ner. But she had taken a great aversion
to Gates and could not think of him as
her future husband without "a shudder.
This attitude annoyed her father very
much and he had not hesitated to express
his displeasurc. COUGHING his protests.
eYer.-in The kindlieSt- of terms-Mol=
colt was proud of his business, which had
been built up with so much care by so
many generations of his family, and he
wished to transmit it unbrokcn and undi-
vid'd to another generation. 1t had been a
so.c trial that he had never been blessed
with a son and heir, and, although he was
FOND of his daughter. he could not imagine
the possibility of her maintaining the pres
ti2e of the house of Wolcott. Hence a
year before he had taken Austin Gates
INTO his firm and treated him as if he were
his son. The only thing needed to com
pletc his plans was a marriage between
his daughter and Gates.
These were the things tina Barnes
learned. not IN a few minutes, but during
the course of the afternoon; not in con-
meet form. but in bits of conversation and
hints that had to be carefully pieced to-
Gether. One thing certain. Rose Wolcott
was overwhelmed with grief at her faith
er's death. She rejected the police YER
dict of suicide. and begged the inspector
OF customs to clear her fathers memory.
Larnes now had the authority he needed
30 proceed with, but he could not help
ieelins that appearances were very much
against the old merchant.
Were YOU at home when your father
returned ycstcrday?" asked Barnes.
"Ycs,' sobhcd the girl.
lid Aou notice anything unusual IN
J. /; r,nnn"r'"
Yes; he was very much asita;ed.'
"i>iG he say ~anyth!ng?"
=" 9 rubbed his olchead constantly and
sas' once or twice. oh. that after all ,!ese
Nsars thc .,cnor OF our house should De af-
fecter.'"
.,:d be c~xa'a.n ;hls?"
"cH'y 70 'c.l 10 that = referred to bus:-
fcss. ne Vas Fcry fgectior.&.c; o.oni ed
ne lie Nc1ld never again press me 20
,a..r = 27ai0st NY viii. aad said laughing
rev 49, r = sAIA ! Z'N4s tt4-'-tAl sii4@lE
p! Wy lie ead be liss nurse and com
ail .1n.'
.Aaothor eafSurst Of tears made It NJ
nosi;D-c % f~~o.crG tn conversation.
Rasaca lost ,h> 9'vl 10 - a.scaa VIA lis
'nNcsii ation Tho frSi So, was to vi t
the hrrt'y, wfc"n 80 ;a5v Of the dca.!
maj had Boon Goentl. Il mss in re-fcet
orccr. ii accordance wish the habits OF
solia Woiootg. y abe hsd been found ov-
crtar.ci on the night Of ii,c Gcl:h. but
osacrw;se everything WAS in place. Bar es
examined every square inch OF tho room
with extreme care. He noticed a half
smoked cigarette under the library table.
ana quietly picked it up and placed it in
his pocket. The next discovery was n red
w~aliet-emp;y and apparently discarded.
1t was the identical pocketbook which the
merchant had pulled out when he paid the
conscience money in the custom house. y
few minutes later he came upon something
that gave him great joy. 1t was a mass
of torn typewriter paper lying scattered
on the library floor. 1t was as If some
one had torn a letter into pieces and care
lessly thrown the fragments away.
After hat Barnes presented himself to
Mr.. Austin Gates. The gentleman was
not glad TO see him: on the contrary, he
greeted the customs chief with distinct
ch!lliness of manner. Gates was a dapper
little man with curly brown hair and mus
tache. He was dressed in the height of
fashion and everything in his attire. from
his hobby tie down to his neat fitting pat
ent leather shoes. was strictly correct. He
punctuated his sentences with nervous lit
tie laughs that were entirely devoid of
mirth. Once he pulled out his handker-
chief to wipe his brow. and the chief in
spector noticed with epugnance that it
was scented witt, lavender.
"Mr. Barnes" he said. in his jerky man.
nar 81 don't knnuy that xr,n 40 c...
casion."
Perhaps" said the chief persuasively,
Il might be able to help you in some
way"
mot at all. not at ALL, with. a super-