The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1922-06-30

| WhitfOrd mterferec. Hold -
honey. Don't rub 1t In. Clarendon wa.
bit ratified. That's natural The
question is whats he going to da Aowg'
Their host groaned. "Durand'h see
go to the chair-and I only struck the
man to save my own life. | wasn't try.
Ing to kill the fellow. He was shooting
ut me, and | had to do It."
"Of course" agreed Whitford.
We've got proof of that. Lindsay is
one witness. He must have seen 1t all.
I've got in my pocket one of the bullets
Collins shot. That's more evidence.
Then"
Beatrice broke In excltedly. dad,
Mr.. Muldoon just told me over the
phone that they've got the express
wagon The plank with the bullet
holes was In it. And the driver has
confessed that he and carpenter.
whose name he had given. changed the
partition for Durnnd."
Whitford gave subdued whoop.
I'VE win. That lets you out, Claren-
don. The question now isn't whether
you or Clay will so to the penitentiary,
but whether Durand will. We can show
he's been trying to stand In the way Of
justice, that he's been cooking up false
evidence"
Lets hurryl Let's get to the police
right awayl" the girl cried, her eyes
shining with excitement. ave ought
not to lose minute. We can get Clay
out In time to go home to dinner with
u.s."
Bromfield smiled wanly. He came to
time as CALAMITY as he could. "All
right. I'm elected to take his place,
,see."
"Only for day or two, Clarendon"
said the older man. "As soon as we
can get together coroner's jury we'll
straighten everything out"
"Yes," agreed the clubman lifelessly.
1t was running through his mind al
ready that If he should be freed of the
murder charge, he would only have
escaped Scylla to go to wreck on Cha
rybdis. For 1t was a twenty-to-one bet
that Jerry would go to Whltford with
the story of his attempt to hire the
gang leader to smirch Lindsay's repu.
tation.
1t must be admitted that when Brom-
field made up his mind to clear Lindsay
he did 1t thoroughly. His confession
to the police was quiet and business
like. He admitted responsibility for
the presence of the westerner at the
Omnium club. He explained that his
guest had neither gambled nor taken
any liquors, that he had come only as
a spectator out of curiosity. The story
of the killing was told by him simply
and clearly. After he had struck down
the gunman, he had done bolt down
stairs and got away by back alley. |
His instinct had been to escape from |
the raid and from the consequences of |
what he had done, but of course he |
could not let anybody else suffer In his |
place. So he had come to give him
self up.
The late afternoon papers carried |
the story that Clarendon Bromfield, |
well-known man about town, had con-
fessed to having killed "Slim" Collins |
and had completely exonerated Lind
say. 1t was expected that the latter
would be released Immediately.
He was. That evening he dined at
the home of the Whtfords. The mine
owner had wanted to go on the bond
of Bromfield, but his offer had been
rejected.
"We1l hear what the coroners jury
has TO say" the man behind the desk
at headquarters had decided. It'll
not hurt him to rest a day or two in
the cooler"
After dinner the committee of de-
tense met in the Red room and dis
cussed ways and means. Johnnie and
his bride were present because Y
would have been cruel to exclude them,
but for the most part they were silent
members. Tim Muldoon arrived with
Annie Millikan, both of them some
what awed by the atmosphere of the
big house adjoining the Drive. Each
of them brought piece of informa-
ton valuable to the cause.
The man in charge of the blotter ar
the station had told Tim that from a
dip called Fog Coney, one of those ar
rested in the gambling-house raid, an
gun with two chambers dis
charged had been taken and turned In
by those who searched him. 1t had re-
luired some maneuvering for Tim to
get permission to see Fog alone, but
he had used his influence on the force
and managed this.
Fox was a sly dog. He wanted to
make sure on which side his bread was
Duttered before he became commune
,ative At first he had been willing
% tell exactly nothing. He had al
'eady been seen by Durand, and he
lad a very pronounced respect for that
parsonage. 1t was not until he had
become convinced that Jerrys star was
IN the wane that he had come
through" with what Muldoon wanted.
Then he admitted that he had picked
he automatic up from the floor where
Collins had dropped 1t when he fell.
His story further corroborated that of
he defense. He had seen "Slim" fire
vice before he was struck by the
hair.
Clay summed up In a sentence the
esult Of all the evidence they had
olIacted "It's NOT any longer a nues-