The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1923-01-19

had been carelessly flung there by a
man preparing for bed.
After going through Sykes pockets
BARLEY said slowly, Il have grave
doubts If he was even killed In this
ROOM"
He continued to examine the room,
searching the floor. looking into the
drawers of the desk. examining the
walls even; then he came back TO the
clothing. Picking up the blue silk
shirt from the chair, he examined 1t
a second time before he said: 81 was
right. He was not killed in this room.
Here is the, suit he wore. You will
notice that all his clothing Is placed
on this chair in the manner that a
man would naturally place II If he
| was undressing for bed. But there
is no button in the front of his shirt
| to hold his collar, and one stocking
is missing. ANY man may lose col
lar button. but If he does. that button
will be dropped at the place where he
undressed No button is in this room.
| 1t was lost in the room In which he
| was undreSsed. We find his shoes
here but only one stocking, and we
naturally ask where is the other stock
| ing. Then, too. there are no blood
| stains anywhere in this room. Though
his wound did not bleed much. 1t must
have bled some. These are the req
sons why l say he was not killed in
this room. or even undressed here"
His explanation seemed reasonable
enough, yet somewhat mystifying.
Why had the murderer taken all this
trouble to undress Slyke, and why had
he done 1t in some other room? The
next question was just as puzzling. If
Slyke had not been killed in this room,
where had the crime taken place? AS
If he had read my thoughts. Roche
suggested that as there was another
room in the tower, we might see what
could be found there.
The butler, who entered at this mo-
ment, did his best not to glance at
the bed. He was holding with great
difficulty a half-grown Airedale that
growled fiercely when he saw US. The
butler motioned TO the doctor to come
to him. AS he reached his side, Doc
tor King placed his hand upon the
dogs head and it ceased to show it's
teeth and licked his fingers. For sew
eral moments he and the butler held
low conversation, then King turned
to us to say that he had just been
called to the hospital for an operation
and would have to leave at once.
BARLEY scrubbed something on a
piece Of paper, and handing II to the |
doctor said, II think there ought tn
be picture taken of the body so |
1t can be used at the inquest"
The doctor agreed and went out, ac-
companied by the butler. AS the door
closed behind them BARLEY went to
lock 1t. but the key was missing. |
After a moments hesitation he de-
cided it would do no harm to leave
we all started for the floor above.
The room we entered was of the
same size as the one in which we had
found Slyke. Here. too. there was
little furniture-three chairs grouped
around a little table In the center of
the room. a lounge in one corner, a
small desk In another. 1t was the
table that attracted Bartley's atten-
ton. On 1t stood a haIf-emptied
bottle of Scotch whisky. and beside
the bottle three glasses. one of them
holding about a spoonful of liquor
Near one of the glasses was half
smoked cigarette and magazine, and
IN the opposite side of the table the
stub of cigar. BARLEY looked al
both of them with keen interest and
inally placed hem in an envelope.
The cigarette must have been very
one. for the end was of
he finest straw. The appearance of
he table suggested that three, men
lad been present and that two of
hem had been smoking. A confer
nee. perhaps. at which bottle of
able, there seemed to be nothing of
interest in the room.
While Barley was still CHANGING al
he table. walked over TO the large
'indow and drew aside the heavy cur
ain that reached TO the floor. AT my !
eet was a playing card that had been !,
by its folds. CHANGING .
round to see If there were any others
nd finding none. | brought the card
} BARLEY. :,
AS ! stepped to his side. | saw that ),
e was examining the magazine. Like :,
lany magazines. the back carried a .
audy advertisement that covered the !,
ltire page. This one had an unusual 7,
mount of unused white space. Bart !,
y pointed silently TO where someone
ad idly amused himself by drawing r.
D II with a pencil. habit many H
aople have. The design was simple. II
1ly a mass of scrolls with little II
cure here and there. and lines run L
aug through them.
4 HNG e HNA 70 #16