The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1913-04-03
The inspector Explains.
CHAPTER XIV.

The inspector Expialns.
Thump. thump. thump!
] had not thought slumber possible
for me. and yet must have slept My
bewildered senses. dased by q sudden
recall to activity. took subconscious
cognizanoe Of . regular. persistent
pounding and eventually succeeded In
stirring me to attention. suddenly
sat up and looked about me. l found
myself In the deserted cottage, the
drug slave still motionless on his couch
and the logs still smoldering in the
fireplace.
That thumping-I quickly saw whers
1t came from. Davis was standing over
the sleeping form Of Dodds. the con-
stable. engaged in the work Of awak.
enins him by the park policeman's
method-kicking him ON the solss Of
his shoes.
The process was successful. The
constable snorted, drew up his legs.
rubbed his eyes and sprang to his feet.
1T will be daylight in half an hour"
! heard Davis tell him. II want you
to go and get the buckboArd and drive
around to where Rouser's body lies.
Bring mo any papers you and in his
pockets. Leave his money and his
watch and keys. 10 a. not to arouse
any suspicion Of robbery. Az soon a.
you have done that want you to
drive back and pick up tho body be.
fore anyone else finds 1t. Drive with
1t to Millervale and leave It there.
Don't talk too much. Tell everybody
that you found the body at the foot
Of the precipice and impress on them
that 1t must have been an accident in
the dark. Al soon a. you can convent
entity get away. come back here. Make
sure. though. that nobody follows you"
As soon ~ the constable had eone.
Davis lit . cigarette, turned up his
coat collar and took a seat on
rough bench Just outside the door.
Come on out here, Harding. and
watch the sun rise," he called to me.
rose hastily from where I had
been sitting gazing stupidity about me
and joined him on the bench.
There was something you wanted
to ask me. wasn't there?" he said
pleasantly.
There were 10 many things I want.
ed to ask him I hardly knew where to
begin. but the first thing blurted out
was:
rs Hugh Crandall guilty?"
He is guilty only Of being In love
with Katharine Parrish against her "a
Tiers wishes he replied.
But surely" said doggedly, he
has some connection with the crime
of the yellow letters. He knew
Young. He knew where to find him.
There are many things about his &C
tions that to my mind call for expla.
nation"
Did you notice his eyes?" asked
Davis. 1t was still too dark for me to
see the inspectors face, but l felt
sure that he was laughing at me. He
made me feel that way all too often.
Il didn't" l answered rather cross
ly. but what's that got to do with
it,"
I'm afraid, Kent, as l have said be-
fore, you will never make a good de-
tective. You are entirely too unob-
servant Of important details Do you
recall my asking early in our investi-
cation whether or not Crandall had
blue eyes?"
Yes" grudgingly admitted, II re-
call it."
As soon as discovered that Gran.
dali had blue eyes that eliminated him
as the probable criminal"
II don't see your logic"
I've told you before" said Davis,
after pause long enough to permit
him to light another cigarette. that
there are classes of crime and types
Of criminals. each strongly marked
after its own sort. saw right at the
start that this crime was Of the hid
den sort, Of the kind that includes con-
spiracy. blackmail, secret plotting
the kind that requires skilful sneak,
You never in your life found a blue.
eyed sneak. There are lots of blue
eyed desperadoes and burglars. Most
Of the notorious bad men Of the west
were blue-eyed. but you don't find a
man with blue eyes shooting or stab
bing man in the back or kidnapping
a child or writing blackmailing let
ters."
While was not at all convinced
by his argument, I felt that 1t would
be useless for me to dispute It, for I
would be invading comparatively un-
known territory. whereas he undoubt-
edly had dozens Of cases at his finger
tips ready to illustrate his theory. I
decided to change the subject.
~ recall. too," said. that you
asked If Crandall was left-handed. So
far as l saw, he is not. What OF that?
Is that another proof of Crandall's in
nocence!"
No." said Davis, that didn't prove
Crandall's Innocence. 1t proved Rou.
ser's guilt. In fact, It was the left
handed clue that put me on the right
track and eventually led me to this
very cottage"