The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1934-03-15
CHAPTER VII
II s.
Kilday's Case

nul TINT iIipossiuict bihtis CA
claimed Sergeant Kilday impatiently.
1.-THE gun belonged to the murderer"
Peter picked the revolver from the
desk and examined 1t critically Would
this, like every other trail they had
discovered In this CURIOUS case end In
a blind alley7 He whIstlpd. tuneless
ly. How could Jim Franklin. stabbed
through the heart. have concealed the
weapon In the rectory garden. before
returning to the study to die? Obvi
ously, that WAS impossible. The revo
yer had been concealed by the muir
derer, certainly. Peter revolved the
question In his mind methodically.
Had Franklin carried the weapon 70
his wedding. fearing trouble? II 80,
why had he not used 1t, when at
tacked7
Or again. granting that he had tried
to use his gun and had been too slow,
why had the slayer taken such pre-
cautions to conceal It? What story
did the weapon have TO tell that the
slayer wished to hide7 1t was Frank.
Inns own gun. His possession OF It
could scarcely reveal the identity of
the assailant. He thought of the
lhumb-print, but dismissed It with a
shrug. The murderer had had 10 diff
Guilty In wiping the prints OF his fin
gers from the hilt OF the knife. No,
that was not the answer. What do
you make OF 1t. Sergeant" the nov
elIst inquired. why should the guilty
person have taken the precaution to
hide his victims gum"
Doesn't make sense" growled Kill
day. chewing savagely on his cigar.
.'If | had killed a man who was carry
ing a gun, I'd have left the gun alone.
Then. II ever was caught. | could
plead self-defense."
"How Is this for a theory?" Peter
volunteered. IF Jim Franklin had
had the gun In his possession, he, Ger
tainly would have defended himself
with It, wouldn't he? He wouldn't have
carried a weapon To his wedding II he
hadn't expected danger. That being
true, why didn't he shoot his assail-
ant the minute he was attacked?
"Tf we grant that he was armed.
then we admit he was expecting
trouble. But Royce heard nothing
apparently Franklin never even cried
out. My Idea is that he never had
that revolver
But hang 1t, man. 1t was Franklins
own gunl" expnstuIated the detec-
tive.
"There's no doubt of that" Cardigan
agreed, "but people have se.sc Xfr,wn
to borrow guns before. Obviously. the
guilty person was taking every pre-
caution to conceal his Identity. IT
seems that he first planned to borrow
his victims gun for the occasion.
After his arrival In the study, however.
he saw Doctor Abernathy's dagger
hanging among his trophies on the
wall. The knife was the more silent
method of the two. so he determined TO
use 1t. instead of the revolver This
presented only one difficulty For some
reason. not yet apparent to us, he did
not want to leave the revolver beside
the body. And certainly, II was a
dangerous thing to carry around. AS
its discovery would connect him with
the slain man, should the ownership
of the weapon be traced. Therefore.
he concealed the gun In the garden"
Then how about the thumh-print
DO you think wei still he able to
trace him by that?'
81 have my doubts" Peter declared
"Why should he have left thumb
print on the revolver. when he took
the precantion to wipe off the knife
unless" and the novelist sat suddenly
forward in his chair. 'hy George
Sergeant. that's IT. Unless he wanted
us to find that thumh-print Have
you taken the finger-prints of the dead
MANI"
ave always take them. during the
medical examination replied the de
tective.
go get them, quick" Peter sprang
to his feet and hogan restless pacing
OF the floor I'm beginning to get
1t, now. That rhumh-print belongs Ia
Jim Franklin, and 1t was made after
his death. The murderer taking
every precaution to conceal his owr
identity. pressed his victims thumb
against the barrel after the crime. Sc
that II we ever found the weapon. II
could lead us only to the dead man
Very clever, TOO. and If II wasn't for