The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1909-05-14


ployed the girl gave the same testi-
mony, that she never went anywhere
with men, but frequently attended the
theater or parties with other girls. But
they never had seen these girls though
they were positive that Sadie, who
was the most truthful of human be-
ings, would not deceive them in such
a matter At the end DR.. Furniyall
was convinced by the testimony OF
these innocent employers that the girl
had a lover, one who for some reason
she wished to keep under the rose, and
with whom she had passed these fire.
Quent evenings which were supposed
to have been spent with girl friends.
That was the man he must find, for
the news of her engagement to Pickett
would furnish the motive for the crime
which hitherto had been lacking, as
well as explain why the girl wished it
believed that the match was off. But
the strictest search failed to disclose
any such person, or indicate in the
remotest degree whom he could be.
"Well, l must begin at the begin
ming" he soliloquized, as he turned
his automobile away from the home OF
the last of these witnesses. THE
story must be worked from the ground
up. Our mysterious lady has compli-
Gated matters by her desire for Sc
crecy in her affairs, for | am sure l
could find some sort of lead in Flick
EFT if l should keep at him long
enough, though he is unconscious him
self that he knows anything. But l
won't pry into the lady's secret I'M
necessarily, and l should have to do
that in order to find out what | wish to
know. Fortunately there's another
way open"
He drove to the undertaker's and
examined the body, interviewed the
medical examiner and policemen who
had brought the remains from the
field, then hurried to the field itself
and looked the ground all over. The
soil around the edge of the brook was
a mixture of clay and gravel in which
footprints were easily discernible, and
he saw at once where heavy weight
had been dragged from the water
across this soft material and deposited
in the grass few feet away. He knew
that the police theory was that the
deed had been done on the little bridge
near by, the girl having been thrown
into the water, afterwards drifting to
the spot where the workmen coming
along the path towards the bridge had
spied it. Following up the stream he
could see no traces of blood, either
along the bank or on the bridge, or, in
fact, anywhere but at the point where
the body had lain and from there in a
straight line to the grass over which
the workman had dragged and car
ried it, s..
ut looks as if the thing was done
right here, and not on the bridge
he said to himself. gazing down to
where the waves rippled on the ,clayey
shore. Suddenly he bent eagerly for
ward. There in the mud of the river
bottom, three feet out, where the wa
ter was knee deep, were the tracks
Of brogans pointing in towards the
bank Removing his shoes and stock
ings he waded -in-and- followed
tracks which, sunken deep in the mud,
as if made by a person of weight, or
carrying a heavy burden, were plainly
to be seen by one in the brook over
them, though they would be invisible
from the shore, and found that they
led back under the bridge and to a
point on the opposite bank some rods
above it. Here they turned in to a
fiat stone surrounded by Bushes, which
formed an ideal lovers seat, and this
stone and the ground and foliage near
it were drenched with blood. -u..s
r"Aha! Here is where it was done,
then, and he carried her to that other
place. What. for? Here she might
remain undiscovered for, days, while
there" .....,-.... .,. ...
He paused, standing moment in
thought Then he crossed the bridge,
resumed his footwear, and following
the trail made by the workmen through
the grass as they ran to where the
body lay, soon reached the well-worn
path along which the men had been
walking when the cry of their COM
panion attracted their attention. In
the path he turned and regarded the
shore. -....---
This morning the sun rose at ex-
actly quarter to six" he said to him
self. at a few minutes past six, when
these men came by here, the body
would be lying in the shadow of that
bush, andy the great Jove! Yes,
it could not have been visible from
here at all, even in full sunlight! That
perspicacious Barney must have eyes
that bore through the solid earth!"
1893 ~ -h..'t.-
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