The Brandon news., 1911-02-23
CHAPTER XIX.
At the Table Next.

AT tHS dptc NSNts
Mcknight and Hotchkiss were
sauntering slowly down the road as !
caught up with them. AS usual, the
little man was busy with some alb
struse. mental problem.
'The idea is this" he was saying,
his brows knitted in thought, "if a
left-handed man, standing in the po-
sition of the man in the picture,
should Jump from car, would he be
likely to sprain his right ankle? When
q right-handed man prepares for a
leap of that kind, my theory is that he
would hold on with his right hand,
and alight at the proper time, on bis
right foot. Of course"
II imagine, although / don't know, .
interrupted Mcknight, that a man
either ambidextrous or one-armed,
jumping from the Washington Filler,
would be more likely to land on his
head"
Anyhow" l interposed, what diff
ference does it make whether Sullivan
used one hand or the other? One pair
of handouts will put both hands out
of commission"
AS usual when one of his pet the
ories was attacked, Hotchkiss looked
aggrieved.
My dear sir" he expostulated,
don't you understand what bearing
this has on the case? How was the
murdered man lying when he was
found?"
''On his back" l said promptly,
head toward the engine"
VERY WELL" he retorted, "and what
then? Your heart lies under your
fifth intercostal space. and to reach it
q right-handed blow would have struck
either down or directly in.
But, gentlemen, the point of en-
trance for the stiletto was below the
heart, striking up! AS Harrington
lay with his head toward the engine, a
person in the aisle must have used
the left hand"
Meningitis eyes sought mine and
ne winked at me solemnly as / unos-
tentatiously transferred the hat / was
carrying to my right hand Long
training has largely counterbalanced
heredity in my case, but still pitch
ball, play tennis and carve with my
left hand. But Hotchkiss was too busy
with his theories to notice me.
We were only just in time for our
train back to Baltimore, but Nc
Knight took advantage of a second s
delay to shake the station agent warm
ly by the hand.
II want to express my admiration
for yeu," he said beamingly. ability
of your order is thrown away here.
You should have been city police
man, my friend
The agent looked trifie uncertain.
"The young lady was the one who
told me to keep STILL" he said.
Mcknight glanced at me, gave the
agents hand a final shake, and
climbed on board But / knew per-
fectly that he had guessed the reason
for my delay.
He was very silent on the way
home. Hotchkiss, too, had little to
say. He was reading over his notes
intently, stopping now and then to
make a penciled addition. Just be-
fore we left the train Richey turned
to me. II suppose it was the key to
the door that she tied to the gate?"
Probably. did not ask her."
Curious, her locking that fellow
in," he reflected.
"You may depend on it, there was a
good reason for 1t all. And / wish
you wouldn't be SO suspicious of mo-
tives, Rich" said warmly.
"Only yesterday you were the sus-
picious one," he retorted, and we
iapsed into strained silence.
It was late when we got to Wash
ington. One of Mrs. Klopton's small
tyrannies was exacting punctuality at
meals, and, like several other things,
/ respected It. There are always
some concessions that should be made
In return for faithful service.
So, as my dinner hour of seven was
long past, Mcknight and I went to a
little restaurant downtown where they
have q very decent way of fixing
chicken Ia King. Hotchkiss had de-
parted, economically bent, for small
hotel where he lived on the American
plan.
n want to tAink some things ovsr."s