The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1920-09-25

|
Desperately determined to Iearr
what was being said, the miner thrus
me heavy blade of his jackknife be
meath the ill-titting window sash ant
| succeeded in noiselessiy lifting II ;
scant half inch. He bent lower. the
! speakers voice clearly audible
through the narrow opening There
was dead man back East, WASH,
| there?"
What difference does that maker
None. particularly, except to nat
urally increase the worth of my serv.
ices, I'm not squeamish about stiffs
but like TO know what | am doing
What are YOU holding on 10 this other
fellow for?"
Enright walked nervouSly across
the room, chewing at his cigar. only To
come back and face his questioner
We'll. ] suppose | might as well tell
you" he said almost savagely you're
in too deep already to wiggle out We
made rather mess of it in New York,
and only bit of luck helped us
through. We had the plans ready for
three months, but nothing occurred to
give us a chance. Then all at once
Cavendish got his first telegram from
WeStcott and decided to pun out not
telling anyone where he was going. He
employed me to draw the will, and told
me he planned to leave the city for
some time. As soon as ] could | told
the others over the phone, and VIC got
busy
Lacy stared increduous.
"And there hasn't been no killing
Enright shook his head.
Not by any Of us"
"Then how about that dead man in
New York-the one that was buried
for Cavendish? oh, | read about
that. Beaton showed it to me in the
paper"
"That's the whole trouble" Enright
answered Sravely. II do not know
who he was. or how he came there.
All l know is, he was not Frederick
Cavendish. But his being found there
dead In Cavendsh's apartments, and
identified, puts us In an awful hole,
II the rest Of this affair should ever
become known. Do you see? The
charge would be murder, and how are
we going 20 hold the real Cavendisb
alive. and not have it come Out?"
'The other one-the-stiff-wa
Cavendish?
Certainly not; you know where
Cavendish is"
II never saw Fred Cavendish; I
wouldn't know him from Adams off
OK. I've got the fellow Beaton turned
over to me-"
"WeIl. he's the man; the dead one
isn't"
"How do you know"
Because Frederick Cavendish
bought and signed r0und-trip ticket
to Los Angeles, and boarded the mid
night train. MY man reported that to
me, and Beaten just had time to catch
the same train before 1t pulled out.
Isn't that true. Ned?"
Eyes. it is, and I never left him"
But insisted Lacy stubbornly.
ibid You see the dead one?"
"Yes. | kept away from the in
quest, hut attended the funeral to get
a glance at his face. 1t seemed too
to be true The fellow wasn't
I'd swear to that, but he
did look, enough like him to fool any
body who had no suspicious aroused.
Dammit, it's spooky. the very thought
pf it."
"But you saw n differencew
BECAUSE ] looked for it; / never
would have otherwise. But anyway.
was already convinced that he was
not the man. I am not sure what I
should have thought II / had met him
live upon the street"
Lacy appeared amused, crossing the
.oom. and expectoratihg into the open
stove
'.You fellows make me laugh" he |
aid grimly. 81 am hardly idiot |
enough to be taken in by that sort |
II old wives' tale. However. IL that |
5 your story. stick to ft-but II you
we're TO ever tell II fr court, 1t would |
axe Jury about FIVE minutes to bring
n their verdict. Let's get to bust
less. You want me to help out In a /
ort of accident. | presume-a fall
,ver n cliff, or the premature discharge
# blasting powder; these things are
rlite common out here. And to pre-
ent any stir at this end before you
elbows get hold of the stuff. you want
no to call off my working gang and
d Westcott alone. Come. now speak
~"
"Yes." acknowledged Enright. Il
ont care so much for Westcott, but
want things kept quiet"
Lacy whistled few bars, his hands
hruSt deep into his trouser pockets
hen. after a few minutes cogtation,
e resumed:
"All right then; We'll take IT as 1t
es. The only question unsettled. En-
light, is-what is all this worth to
,e?'
rLApTER VII