The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1910-08-18
CHAPTER XVII.
A Hint of Scandal.

49,
In giving the gist of what happened
at the inquest, | have only one ex-
cuse-to recall to the reader the
events of the night of Arnold Arm
strong's murder. Many things had
occurred which were not brought out
at the inquest and some things were
told there that We're new to me AL
together, it was a gloomy affair, and
the six men in the corner. who con
stituted the %coroner's jury, were evil
IDENTITY the merest puppets in the
hands of that ~all-powerful gentlemen,
the coroner.
Gertrude and | sat we'll back, with
our wells down. There were a num-
Der of people | knew: Rarbara~Fitz-
nugh. in ~eXtravagant mourning-she
always went into black on the slight
est p~rovocation, because it was becom-
ing-and Mr.. Jarvis, the man who
had come over from the Greenwood
club the night of the murder. Mr..
Harton was there, too, looking i'm
patient as the inquest dragged, but
alive to every particle of evidence.
q VI. was
watching the proceedings intently.
DR.. Stewart was called first. His
evidence was told briefly. and amount
ed to this: On the Sunday morning
previous, at a quarter before five, he
had been called to the telephone. The
message was from a Mr.. Jarvis, who
asked him to come a. once to Sunny
GiIn nc fhArN hoI lAA, .o;lA-t
there, and Mr.. Arnold Armstrong had
been shot. He dressed hastily, gath
cred up some instruments, and drove
to ~SunnySide.
He was met by Mr.. Jarvis. who look
him at once to the east wing. There.
just as he had fallen, was the body of
Arnold Armstrong. There was no
need of the instruments; the man was
dead. In answer to the coroner's
q~uestion-no, the belly had not been
moved, save to turn it over. 1t lay
at the foot Of the circular staircase.
Yes, he believed death had been in
Simultaneous. The body was still some
what warm and rigor mortis had not
set in. 1t occurred late in cases Of
sudden death. 80. he believed the
probability of suicide might be elm
mated; the wounds could have been
self-infictcd, but with difficulty. and
there had been no weapon found.
The doctors examination was over.
but he hesitated and cleared his
throat.
Mr. Coroner" he said. "at the risk
of taking up valuable time. ! would
like to speak of an incident that nay
or may not throw some light on this
matter"
The audience was alert at once.
Kindly proceed, doctor" the coro-
ner said.
My home is in Englcwood. two
miles from Casanova" the ,doGt4Khp
ganumbRr f6f H6saH6vaa q people have
been consulting me. \ month ago
five weeks. to be exact-a woman
whom ! had never seen came to my
Office. She was in deep mourning and
kept her veil down, and she brought
for examination a child, a boy of six.
The little fellow was i'll; 1t looked like
typhoid, and the mother was frantic.
She wanted a permit to admit the
20 ngster to the Children'S hospital
in town here, where | am a member
of the staff, and | gave her one. The
incident would have escaped me, but
for a curious thing. Two days before
Mr.. Armstrong was shot, | was sent
for to 60 to the Country club; some
one had been struck with a golf bal!
that had gone wild. 1t was late when
from the club, on the Clayburg road
| met two people. They were disput-
ing violently, and had no difficulty in
recognizing Mr.. Armstrong. The wom-
an, beyond doubt, was the IN who
had consulted me about the child"
At this hint of scandal, Mrs. Ogden
Fitghugh sat mp very straight. jamie
son was looking slightly skeptical,
~" 'he made a note.
The Chndren's hospital, you say.
~. . %" =" "sked.
40 IA. who was en-
"'aIlace. was taken
away by his mother two weeks ago.
l have tried to trace them II fdlIed
All at once | remembered the tele~
gram sem to Louise by some one
signed F. l.. W.-Tresumably Or.
Walker. Could the yelled woman be
the Nina Darlington of the message?
But it was only idle speculation. | had
no way of finding out, and the inquest
was proceeding.
The report of the coroner's physi-
clan came next. The post-mortem eX-
animation showed that the bullet had
entered the chest in the fourth left
intercostal space and had taken an
oblique course downward and back
ward, piercing both the heart and
lungs. The left lung was collapsed,
@syMA