Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1918-04-25

AS ne ulu ldSl HlSutb Sdlu Dudl
'Well, then" lefty concluded, "he
was able to walk when he went to
them rocks, all right. This other
wouldn't belong to the professor,
would it, Mr.. Dual?"
NO" Semi responded. "The pro-
fessor was English and wore an Eng
lish shoe, as / noticed this morning
in the card room. You are right,
however, il thinking the other made
by Charley. II you'll look at his
shoes on our return you'll see that
the right has a broken sole. The
print which shows it here is that of
right shoe also"
He motioned Bill to go on.
"Then," declared Heffy, "either he
walked by here alone or with the
party maxim this ther track. Say
you don't think he could have been
walkin' with the guy what croaked
him?"
Dual turned his head quickly.
"Why not?" he sail.
Before he was croakedw Heffy
was growing incoherent.
Naturally" said Semi, and follow
ed Bill.
He led US quite to the edge of the
lip, where he stopped and pointed to
blurred, dragging mark in the soil
"a sickening thing, which showed
where some object had slipped over
and gone hurting downward into
that dreadful abyss where the mist of
distance swung between US and the
writhing river SO far below.
HE Just happened to light on the
ledge down there" he remarked,
pointing over. Il reckon whoever
showed him off thought he would 60
all the way. 1t was meant, all right"
Semi went quite to the edge short
way beyond the telltale drag on the
brink, got down and peered over. In
fact, we all looked down to where
narrow ledge had caught the body and
SO stayed it's plunge into the terrible
depths.
Bill began dilating on the recovery
as we looked. Il had 'em tie me to a
rope, an slid down an tied the body
fast. Then they hauled him up an
let tn rope down again for me. Tell
you that there ledge is a shivery place
to stand on at night, all right
Dual came back to the dragging
mark, which showed where Wingarde
had been thrust off.
He moved slowly about it, search
ing, as / fancied, for more of the
slender footprints. And he found
them. We all crowded close as he
pointed them out, partly smudged by
the later walking over the spot, but
yet discernible to a trained eye which
knew in advance for what it was
searching. One pair of them pointed
directly toward the brim of the canon,
and were printed deeper at the toe, as
though the full weight of the maker
had been thrown on the forward part
of his feet-and they were directly
back of that point where the sugges-
tive sliding mark showed on the edge.
l looked at Semi. He laid the
body down and showed it off by push
ing against it," suggested. That
would explain the pressure on the toes
of his shoes, / should think"
He nodded.
Exactly, Gordon. We may picture
the murderer bending and forcing his
victim over the edge. He expected
the body to drop to the river, and
either sink to the bottom or be car
ried far down and so removed as an
accusing object. The chance ledge
and the concealing darkness betrayed
his plan without his knowing it had
happened"
l glanced at Laredo. He was
standing not far from the edge, and
drawing his feet slowly backward and
forward in Il nervous manner while
he watched our Investigations. His
dark face was intent, tense, full OF
the keencst interest in our actions.
You would have thought, If he
had thrown the body Off, lie would
have tried to see il it -eally went all
the way down." l said to Semi.
Let us see," he remarked softly,
half rose and moved in crouching
attitude to the very edge OF the cash
in the earth, skirtlng the mark OF the
body as he went, and sinking to his
knees again as he reached the brink.
On the other side of the sliding i'm
preston Osborne and | followed suit
until we, too, kneit just back of the
rim, yet so close that l could look
over and down to the shadows, which
the mornings sun had not yet been
able to dispel.
Dual was speaking.
'rhe natural impulse of one hav-
ing thrown the body of another over
such an edge would be TO approach
the edge himself and look over. And
because it was dark he would exer-
else caution. That he did so we can
see by the fact that he pushed the
body over rather than having held il
up and thrown it out and down. He
would in all probability creep for
tn