The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1923-02-16

cal tone as he paused to rellght hi
cigar. Miss Potter dreamed NOR
than once that Slyke had been killed
We are told a dream is a suppresse'
wish, and that In our dreams on
wishes are often hidden by symbols
This woman probably did not wisl
Slyke actually dead. She had n,
quarrel with him as far as / know
What she did wish was entirely differ
emf. She wished that he might b,
away so that he would be nj o.
some trouble. and her suppressed
wish caused her to dream that he wa:
dead. That's the reason why / be
lieve that she knows more than she
will tell.'
what can it be7" 1 asked.
II don't know, but 1t Is something
that was causing a great deal OF
trouble to Slyke. perhaps t. all OF
them. 1t might even be something
that will bring dishonor. Anyway. 1t
was so serious that, sleeping or wax
ing, 1t was ON her mind. | wish she
would talk we need all the light we
can get"
"But that does not actually prove
that she knows anything about his
DEATH" I suggested.
BARLEY turned quickly and glanced
at me to see If l were serious. Seeing
that l was. he explained !. 81 don't
say that 1t does. The ouija board
performances and the dreams were
before his death, not after 1t. OF
course, the fact that the dog did not
bark throws suspicion on everyone
that was in the house at the time"
He was silent for a while, CHANGING
thoughtfrlly out of the window, and
then resumed his story.
After / left him. he had locked him
self In the tower for over an hour and
gone over the two rooms and the bal
cony almost inch by inch. The only
thing that had escaped us in our first
search. he said, was a small stopper,
the end covered with red wax. He
was not sure whether the finding of
the stopper meant anything or not.
His second examination had made
him more positive than ever that
Slyke had been murdered, and that
the murderer wished his deathyto APP
pear to be suicide.
1t would be almost impossible to
make a jury believe that it was MUIR
der on the slight evidence that we
had, and / said as much to BARLEY. |
He agreed with me, and admitted he
would not be surprised If King, as
coroner, brought In a verdict of sui
eide. / pondered on this a while;
then a thought struck me.
Suppose. after all, he did kill him
self, BARLEY. You base you theory
of murder on the position Of the bed
clothes and the way the gun was held.
Suppose he did kill himself, and some
other person. not the murderer, came
into the room and pulled the bed
up around his neck"
He shook his head In denial. "We
would still have, Pelt," he said with
a rather sarcastic smile. "the other
questions to be answered. First, we
would ask how the blood-stains got
On the balcony of the tower. We
would also want to know why the
hand did not grasp the gun as tightly
rs it should. Then we would demand
know why there was no blood on
he pillow where his head rested. 1t
won't do. There Is no doubt of 1t.
lie was killed"
| interrupted to ask II. as Miss Pot
err admitted. she had closed his eyes,
.~hx~ chn rnfnbf not hnno han oIoA tho
me who pulled the bedclothes up
round his neck.
BARLEY replied. at is true that she
i'd close his eyes. but she insists she
nothing else"
But" I broke in, "what was her
cal reason for doing it?"
"She said. you remember, that the
yes frightened her. Let a nervous
come suddenly upon a dead
ody and Ii is very possible that the
yes staring at her might so brighten
that she would close them. Her
onfession cleared up a point that
Dthered me. The accounting for the
res being closed does not prove that
e committed suicide, however. There
little enough evidence one way or
tut what there is points to
urder and to nothing else"
''There is another thing" / said.
Why was the revolver taken from
m while we were upstairs? 1t seems
very foolish thing to have done.
no did 1t? Was 1t the butler or
iss Potter?' r.
Both the butler and Miss Potter n
d been out of the tower room, Bart r,
y reminded me. for some time be-
re we suspected Sykes death was n,
nrder and not suicide. AS to who n,
d taken the revolver, Il was impos- -
lie to say as yet. If we believed
Mt the butler had seer Briffaur on
2 stairs while we were on the bal st
ny. then he might be the one. The or
ding Of the gun in the vault and
appearance almost Immediately
.erward seemed to point to him.
hoover had done 1t had been very
'lish. tn