Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-02-10
TANGLED TRAILS By $:;:* *:::::$ :::.'


what he intended TO do about a settle,
ment. Not q thing. he told her; =.
did aim to give Hull two thousand 70
get rid Of him. But I've changed ny
mind, ma'am. You can 90 whistie ior
1.-TWO thousandl Did he say two
Kirby leaned forward eagerly.
"That's what he said. TWO tnou'
sand" answered Olson.
"Then that explains. why. he drew 10
much from the bank that day. =, A..
II had It figured out 20. III tae
woman hadn't come at him WIN inas H
acid tongue Of hers he'd intendee 70 . uuy
Hull off cheap. But ene g. NE h"- sIi; i;ne
q Of talk" 49,. ,.,,,..
"still without rising from the chair.
Cunningham ordered them to get out.
Hull was standin' kinda close to him.
He had his back to me. Cunnlnghnm
reschetl ont an opened a drawer OF the
stand beside him. The fat man took
step forward. ]. could see his gun
assb in the light. He swung 1t down
on yore uncle.'s head an the old man
80 Il was Hull killed him.. after
all" Kirby said, drawing a long breath
Then. to his surprise when he thought
about it later, q glitter Of malicious
cunning lit the eyes Of the rnncher.
THAT'S what I'm tellin' you. 1t was
Hull. I stood there an saw just what
I've been givin' you.' .,.
WAS my uncle senseless then!'
"You bet he was. His head sagged
,lear over against the back OF the
chair
What did they do then?'
That's where drop out. Mrs.
Hull stepped straight to the window.
I crouched down back Of the railin'.
1t was dark an she didn't see me. She
pulled the blind down. I waited there
awhile an afterward there was the
they sent the bullet through the old
mans BRAIN"
What did you do?'
II didn't know what to do. I'd talked
lot Of wild talk about how Cunning
ham ought to be shot or strung up to a
pole. If went to the police with my
story, like enough they'd light on me
as the killer. ! milled the whole thing
over. After while went into a pub.
lie booth downtown an 'phoned to the
police. You recollect maybe the papers
spoke about the man who called up
headquarters with the news Of Gun
ningham's DEATH
'.Ycs. I recollect that all right"
Kirby did not smile. He did not cx.
plain that he was the man. But he
resolved to find out whether two men
had notified the police of his uncle's
death. If not, Olson was lying in at
least one detail. He had suspicion that
the man had not given him the whole
truth. He was telling part Of 1t. but
he was holding back something. A
sly and furtive look in his eyes helped
TO build this impression in the mind
of the man who listened to the story.
You didn't actually see Hull fire
the shot that killed my uncle, then?"
Olson hesitated a fraction of sec'
fired it,
"No, it might "a been the woma n
But it amt likely he handed her the
gun to do 1t with, is it? For that
matter don't know that the crack over
the head didn't kill Cunningham
Maybe it did,"
That's all you saw?''
Again the almost imperccptible hest :
tation. Then, That's all," the Dry
Valley rancher said sullenly
What kind Of gun was it?' Kir.
by asked.
..r;e "rGo 4 far away;; Couldn't be sure. +"
Couldn't "A been. The evidence
was that it was done with an au-
tomatic."
The evidence was that the wound
in the head was probably made by a
bullet from an automatic. We're talk
in now about the blow on the head. "
What are you drivin' at?" the ran :.
cher asked. scowling. He wouldn I
bring two different kinds Of gun with
him. That's a cinch.''
No; but we haven't proved yet he
fired the shot you heard later. The
chances are all that he did, but legally
we have no evidence that somebody else
didn't do it,"
s.II II 8 guess jury, would be satisfied he
Probably. 1t looks bad for Hull.
Don't yuu think you ought to go to the
police with your story? Then we can
have Hull arrested. They'll give him
the third degree. My opinion is he
break down under 1t and confess
olson consented Win obvious reluCt-
ance, but he made condition pre-
cedcnt to his acceptance. lie 8 sec
Hull first. just you n me. amt
strong for the police. Well 60 to them
when we've got an open an shut case"
Kirby considered. This story didn t
wholly fit the facts as he knew them.
For instance, there was no explanation
in it of how the room where Cunning
ham was found murdered had become
saturated with the odor of chloroform.
Nor was it in character that Hull
should risk firing gun, the sound of
which might bring detection ON him
while his victim lay helpless before
him. Another blow or two on the skull
would have served his purpose noise
lessly. The cattleman knew from hi
observation of this case that the au
thorities had a way of muddling things
Perhaps 1t would be better to wait un
til the difficulties had been smoothet
out before going to them.
That suits me-" he said. "We'l
tackle Hull when his wife isn't witt
him. He goes downtown every da,
about ten o'clock. Wen pick him vi