The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1923-02-23

detective with grin
BARLEY nodded. and Black went
away to arrange the matter. could
see what BARLEY was after. Only the
police and ourselves knew that the
man was to be placed ON the stand.
and BARLEY wanted to see what eff
feet his sudden Introduction might
have on those present. There might
be someone so surprised by it that
he would give himself away.
In row of chairs, directly in front
of the coroner's desk and about six
feet away, were seated the members
of Sykes household Sykes step
daughter Ruth, dressed in dark blue,
was between Miss Potter and an old
man, who. l decided, was the minister
uncle who had brought her home the
night of the murder. / could not see
Miss Potter's face. but her hands
showed a great nervous strain; they
were never still. picking necessarily
at the folds of her dress. On her
right were two empty chairs for the
chauffeur and Roche, and beyond
them the butler and the other serv-
ants.
We had to wait some time for the
doctor, who had been delayed by
case. When he arrived. he pushed his
way hurriedly through the people at
the far end of the room, pausing only
for moment to speak to the district
attorney. He took his place back of
the desk, and. after removing some
papers from his bag. stood for a mo-
ment looking over the crowd He
seemed almost too worn and nervous
to preside
A silence fell on the room, the curl
GUS. expectant silence that / have so
often noticed at lnquests. To most
of the people present, the doctor had
ceased to be their familiar friend and
had become an impersonal officer of
the law. the instrument for unravel-
ing a mysterious death. Perhaps
some were thinking of the man in
whose house they were and whose
dead body lay above awaiting burial
The silence was suddenly broken by
a heavy peal of thunder.
To my surprise. the doctor called
as his first witness Sykes sister-in-
law. AS a rule, the first person
called at an inquest is the one VINO
discovered the body, but for some rea-
son the doctor had decided to keep
the butler for a later moment.
The first questions, after Miss Pot
ter had taken the oath, were the usual
ones. They related TO her name and
her relationship to Slyke. She said
ho ox,I fJ,o<
she was the sister of his dead wife |
Slyke had asked her to come and run |
his house for him. and for the last !
ten years she had done so. In re- |
Spouse to a question as to whether |
she had been paid for her services. |
she flushed deeply and explained that |
while no real salary had been paid, |
whenever she had needed money she |
had asked Slyke for ii and he had |
given II to her. The sum varied,
though she doubted If she had ever
received more than a thousand in any
one year. He always had been willing
to give her as much as she asked for,
and had not questioned the amounts.
There had never been any trouble
over money matters between them.
This was all evidence that / knew;
and, while she was giving 1t. glanced
about the room, then watched the doc
tor. He was finding his position a
very difficult one, as he was the fam
lily physician as well as the coroner.
He put his questions with as much
deIicacy as possible. The whole affair
seemed to be very distasteful to
him. 1t was particularly trying for
man who was still feeling the effects of
q nervous breakdown. Miss Potter for
tunately, became more at ease as the
questioning proceeded. She kept her
eyes down and gave her answers in
such low voice that at times it was
hard to hear them at all.
All through the early part of Miss
Potter's evidence there were rumbles
of distant thunder. Leaning back In
my chair. 1 pushed aside the heavy
draperies that hid the window, and
looked out. 1t was almost like night
A big storm was close at hand. The |
thunder was still some miles away, !
and l could see distant, almost con-
tinuous flashes of lightning. After ,
quick glance / let the curtain fall '
back into place.
When / turned my attention again {
TO the evidence, Doctor King was c
Miss Potter about the S
finding of the body. She testified that
she was at breakfast when the butler {
-ushed into the room, crying that s
was wrong with Mr. Slyke. k
She knew her brother-in-law had In d
ended to go fishing that morning. and b
vas surprised to learn that he was
lot yet up. The butler had told her il
hat he had called him, and receiving C
10 reply had entered his room and h
ound Mr. Slyke still in bed. When g
le did not answer when spoken to n
gain. he (the butler) had come al il
nee to her. A