The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1919-02-13

- aioiiN ~ IL q hhoob "No.'Su
case. l shall cable Darlington
Loria for authority to employ an
expert detective"
"Why cable him?" asked Paul
inc 81 am equally in authority
now. Carr and myself each receive
half the residuary estate of Aunt
Lucy, and, of course, | am as anx-
ious to find the-the murderer as
Carr can possibly be-"
We'll, somebody will have to
authorize it who is willing to pay
for it. AS man of business in this
home / am willing to attend to all
such matters, but / must have
authority"
"You seem to me a little prema-
ture, Mr.. Haviland," commented
the. inspector. perhaps, when the
inquest is concluded, it may not
be necessary to call on any other
detective than our own Mr..
Hardy"
perhaps not" agreed Havi-
land; ''but, unless you people all
wake up, your not going to get
anywhere. / admit the getting is
difficult, but that 8 just the reason
a wise sleuth should be called in
before the trails grow cold"
And then the coroner returned
to his task of questioning Mrs.
rockingham.
The widow was not definitely
helpful. Her statements were often
contradictory in minor details,
and when she corrected them they
seemed to lose in weight. She
stuck to the main points, however,
that by the help of a strong field
glass she had d~iscerned, in the
bright moonlight, a man leave by
way Of the French window at 4.
o'clock, and had seen him make
his way stealthily out by the great
entrance gates of the place.
Cross questioning on this
brought no variations, and the
jurymen wagged their heads in
belief of her story. %
But her accounts Of her own
doings on Tuesday evening were
vague and indefinite.
81 was in my own home all the
evening"" she said at one time;
and again: II went out for a
short walk at IL o'clock" This
last in refutation of Haskins, the
Darlington butler, who deposed to
having seen the lady walk across
the lawns of Garden Steps.
"Where did you walkR"
"Oh, just around my own
place and for a moment | strolled
over here because the Steps looked
so beautiful in the moonlight"
"You were alonef"
'.''I was. / have no house guests
at present, save the Count; and
as my brother, who lives with me,
is on a western trip, / was alone,
and / walked about to kill time
until Count Charlier should re-
turn after his bridge game over
here"
"Did you walk near the house
while on the Garden Steps es-
tateY 2" asked Scofield, seeming a
possible espionage Of her titled
visitor.
ssOh, mol" and the witness
bristled with indignation. "Why
should II / was not really al ac-
quaintance of Miss Darlington,
merely neighbor." .
"Beg pardon, ma'am, but | saw
you on the conservatory veran-
dah," said Haskins in a depreca-
tory way:
"That is not true, Mr.. Coro-
ner," said the lady, glaneing
scornfully at the butler. II beg
you will not accept a servants
statement in preference to mine!"
"You are sure of this, Has
'kinsg' said the inspector gravely.
eyes, sir. Sure, SIR and the
man looked doggedly certain,
though a little scared.
"And you deny it," went on
Scofield to Mrs. rockingham.
81 most certainly do! How alb
surd for me to be over here, and
how more than absurd for me to
deny il il i werei"
This seemed sensible. Why
should she deny iti Aud mightn't
the butler be mistakcn7 Or de-
~liberately falsifyingf"
IL there were collision or Grim
inal assistance by any of the serv-
ants, surely the word of all of
them must be mistrusted unless
proven.
And, too, what could have
brought Mrs. rockingham to the
veranda Of a home where she was
not an accepted guestf Or, could
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