The Whitefish pilot. [volume] (Whitefish, Mont.) 1904-current, 1910-06-09

eye
Asses. Idiots! That's what we
are" muttered the cid man. For half
an hour we were in that room. Gihe-
lin and l. and we never found these
holes"
"rhey were covered by the sofa
hangings."
~ know: we shook those hangings.
we pressed against them, we did every
thing but look behind them. See here!
Did you look behind them?"
mo. but | saw something on the
hoor-some yellowish dust. Therey'
He unfolded a paper and showed a
few grains Of coarse brownish pow
der. you see. there are only board
partitions between these rooms, so a
sharp auger would make the holes
quickly. But there would be dust and
chips. The woman probably threw
the chips out Of the window"
"The woman
Coquenil nodded. "She helped Mar,
tinez while he bored the holes.''
You think Martinez bored those
holes?'
Undoubtedly. The spirals from
the auger blade inside the holes show
plainly that the boring was done from
No. 6 toward No. T."
TignOl studied the hole. Then lie
turned. you're fine detective, NJ.
Paul. but was carpenter for six
years before | went OH the force, and
! know more about anger holes than
you do. say you can't be sure whic !,
side Of the wall this hole was bored
from. You talk about spirals. but
there's no sense in that. They're the
same either way. Well see on the
other side"
old man drew back the sofa hangings
and exposed two notes.-the same
holes. You see." he went on, 1.-The
edges are clean. without q sign Of
chipping. There is no more reason to
say that these holes were bored this
side than from that"
M. Paul. going to the sofa. knelt
down by it and. using his magnifying
glass. proceeded to go over it's surface
with lnnn1te care.
Turn up all the lights" he said.
sAh!" he cried presently. "You think
there is no reason to say the holes
were bored from this side. I'll give
you reason. Take this piece Of
white paper and make me prints Of
his boot heels" He pointed to the
body. stake the whole heel carefully.
then the other one: get the nail marks,
everything. That's right. Now cut
out the prints. Good! Now. look here.
Kneel down. Take the glass; There
on the yellow satin by the tail of that
silver bird Do you see? Now COM
pare the heel prints"
Papa Tignol knelt down as directed
and examined the sofa seat.
"Sapristi. You're ii magician!" he
cried in great excitement.
mo-" replics Coquenil. Its perfect
ly simple. These holes in the wall
are five feet above the floor. And
I'm enough of a carpenter. Papa Ti.-
mol" he smiled. ito know that man
cannot work an auger at that height
without standing On something. And
here was, the very thing for him to
stand on. Il sofa just in place. So, if
Martinez bored these holes. he stood
on this sofa to do it. and in that
case the marks of his heels must have
remained Oh the delicate satin. And
here they are"
"Yes. here they are. nails and ALL"
admitted Tigno admiringly. I'm an
old fool, but-but'-
"Well?"
Tell me why Martinez did it."
COquenil's face darkened "Ah.
that's the question. Wen know that
when we talk to the woman Some
body helped him or the chips would
still be there: somebody held back
those hangings while he worked the
auger. and somebody carried the anger
away"
Tignol pondered. "Hah: l see! The
man in No. I. tle murderer. lifted that
picture from Its nail before shooting
and then put it back Oh the nail after
shoOting?"
Eyes. yes" agreed NJ. Paul.
"Then this murderer must have
known that the billiard player was
going to bore these holes" went on
Papa Tignol half to himself HE
must have been waiting In No. Z; he
must have stood there with his pistol
ready while the holes were coming
through: lie must have let Martinez
finish one hole and then bore the other;
he must have kept No. dark so they
couldn't see him
"a good point. that" approved Co.
quenil, paying attention. HE certain
~ kept No. I dark"
"And he probably looked into No. 6
through the first hole while Martinez
was boring the second. l suppose you
can tell which Of the two holes was
bored first:" chuckled Tignol.
NJ Paul started. and Il see-that's
it! He bored this hole first: it's the
right hand one when you're in this