The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-09-11

"PrObably by q fall from the cliff to
the rocks below"
And the fall broke the manacle
from the right wristT"
The broken manacle was never on
the right wrist"
That's merely conjecture" said the
lawyer.
NO; it's certainty. A blow heavy
enough to break that iron. old as it is.
must have left Il mark m the flesh.
There was no mark"
why should any one put one hand
Gun on Il woman and leave the other
dangling?"
"Suppose the other was not left dan
Cling"
"Where was 1t, them"
'On the wrist Of some other person.
possibly"
"A man had chained the woman to
himself:" said Sedgwick incredulously.
More probably the other way
round"
"That's even more unbelievable
mot If you consider the evidence.
You will remem BIER that your mysteri-
rus visitor. while talking with you. car
red a heavy bundle. The manacles
were, | infer. in that"
But what conceivable motive could
the dead woman have in dressing her
self up like a party. going to meet "A.
man and claiming him to herself?"
syVhnn ron huyo a bi1a vro orin,o vn,,
must look for bizarre motives. Just at
present I'm dealing with facts. The
iron was on the left wrist of the body:
therefore it was on the right wrist of
the unknown companion. 1t Is natural
20 perform a quick. def act like snap
ping on a handcuff with the right hand.
Hence. presumably. your visitor was
the n who clamped the cuffs"
"And the man broke of his?"
Eyes. But only after a struggle. IN
If l could find a man with
a badly bruised right wrist | should
consider the trails end in sight. You'll
make inquiries. will you. Mr.. Bain?"
II will: and | will keep an eye on
Len Schlager and the doc. Anything
more now: If not I'll say good night"
After the lawyer had made his way
into the darkness Kent turned to his
host. This affair is really becoming a
very pretty problem. Why didn't you
tell me Of your meeting with Simon p.
GroOt?"
"WhoY'
1.-THE patriarch in the circus wagon"
"Oh. I'd forgotten. Why. when l was
trying to trail the woman | CHANGED
upon him and asked II he had seen
her. He hadn't"
HE had. Also he heard a terrified
cry shortly after. The cry, he thought.
was in a mans voice. Simon r. Groot
isn't wholly lacking in sense Of obser-
vation."
"A mans voice in a cry? What
could that mean?"
oh. any one of several hundred I'M
%thinkable things" said Kent patiently.
Wait. She must have attacked
some other man as she did me. She
going to a rendezvous. wasn't
she? Then she and the man she went
to meet quarreled. and he killed her
by throwing her owe the cliff"
And the handcuffs?'
Sedgwick's hands went to his head.
That. of course. is the inexplicable
thing. But don't you think that was
the way she met her deathY"
No"
Then what do you think?'
Never mind that at present. The
point is that Simon r. Groot naturally
supposed you to have been mixed up
in whatever tragedy there was going.
You've an unfortunate knack Of manu-
featuring evidence against yourself.
Sedgwick. The redeeming feature is
that the sheriff cant very well use it
to arrest you
Il don't see why"
Kent chuckled. Don't you see that
the last thing the sheriff wants to do
is arrest anybody"
mo, | don't"
why, he has the body safely buried
now. You'll remember that he was in
a great hurry to get it buried. Identi-
fcation is what he dreaded. Danger
OF Identification is now e Ii any
one should be arrested the body would
be exhumed and the danger would re-
turn in aggravated form. No: he
wants you suspected. not arrested"
He Is certainly getting his WISH"
For the present. Well. I'm off,"
why don't You move your things
from the hotel and stay here with
me?" suggested Sedgwick.
Getting nervous?" inquired Kent.
1T isn't that. but | think | could
make you more comfortable"
Kent shook his head. Thank you.
but | don't believe Id better. When
I'm at work on a case | need privacy.
No house. not even q mans own. can
possibly be so private as a strange
hotel"
perhaps you're right" admitted the
other with a laugh. then lapsing into
pronounced gloom for the first time
he said. 1T seems pretty tough that
| should be in all this coil and tangle
because a crazy woman happened by
merest chance TO make a call on me-
~