The Western news., 1934-02-22


you've laid your finger on It," he said.
"Now what would you say that indi-
Gates? No, don't interrupt | know
the answer myself. Whoever MUIR
dered Franklin purposely entangied
some of these others In the case In or
der to drag herring across his own
trail. eh? Isn't that the way you
figure it?"
Peter eyed his friend carefully. 1T
looks that way" he admitted.
"All right. then" Kilday made no
effort to conceal his exuberance. LET'S
find out who seems to have been
manipulating the herring. Let's find
out who seems to have been involved
in this case by some one else Nhen
we eliminate this class. perhaps Wen
have the murderer First he began
the enumeration of the suspects on his
fingers, there's Choo Choo. She
claims some one phoned her. saying he
was Fletcher, and told her Franklin
wanted her to come 70. the church.
Royce heard the argument. after she
arrived there. Franklin wasn't ex-
pecting her. or course. she may not
he telling us the truth. but lust at
present. she seems To be telling
straight story. And Franklin wasn't
expecting her. So 1t looks as though
she was part of the red herring that
the real culprit dragged across the
trail To throw us off the scent Wen
eliminate her. for the time being
"Then there's Fletcher. He hasn't
been an important suspect. up to now,
but I'd say that this eliminates him
from further consideration. too. Why?
Because who ever called Choo Choo
was the murderer. IF that Was Fletch-
er. he wouldn't have given her his
name.
Third. Ambrose Carmody.' kilday
turned down another finger. "He was
dragged Into 1t by that anonymous
telephone call Very similar to the
trick employed TO bring Choo choo to
| the church. Strike him off.
Fourth, Rylie Carmody. He was
| drawn into II by the story told him by
Webster Spears and now we're getting
hot"
Hold on" Peter objected. IF you
follow this method through, you'll
eliminate every one. won't your
The sergeant, enthused over his idea,
1 1T T. Il rrfv nf En
can notice It," he retorted. Don't
overlook this fact We don't know
| who called Choo Choo. We aren't GER
tain who phoned Ambrose Carmody
But we do know who told Rylie. It
was Webster Spears. And II Spears
involved one of them. what's to pre-
vent him from being the one who In
volved the others?'
| "Only one thing" the novelist re
piled soberly. 'If he was clever
enough TO draw these others Into fht
case without revealing his Identity. VIII,
did he tell Rvlie Carmody personally
why didn't he telephone him, or write
him an anonymous letter? II he tool
these other precautions to remain con
cealed. how did he happen to slip III
here7"
But Kilday had an answer ready
partly born Of his enthusiasm for tn
new theory, partly hatched from tn
relentless logic OF his own experience
"They all slip up, sooner or later ~
never known 1t to fall. There aren'
any perfect crimes. This Is the fay
In this one. 1t only required littl
reasoning to discover It."
GLOW about the others7' Peter wa
still reluctant. How do you explai
the presence OF the woman In blue
What was Calls Shipley doing bac
there?'
"The woman In blue could hav
been drawn into 1t Just as Choo Cho
Train was. Spears only needed I
know another woman with whol
, Franklin had had an affair to add
new note OF mystery to the case whic
would keep us puzzled and throw
off the track OF the real criminal 4
for the Shipley girl. don't know
yet. But will, before long. I've Sci
for her She lied to US about Ryl
taking her home. Either she lied
us about Spears remark In the churc
: or else Spears lied. Personally.
don't think Spears would have mat
Il such remark which obviously Wnn
draw suspicion to himself. later. N
IL he had already planned murd
! and arranged all this false eviden'
! to throw us off the track This girl
going to have to explain to me no
= she knew there had been a murde
I too, and what she was doing Mt We
y ster Spears house last night. | dol
y know how she fits into this case, b
2 she fits, somewhere. I'll soon knc
where"
. Reluctantly, Peter realized that
: friend was only giving expression
y the misgivings that had been troubll
y him concerning this girl Only he h
y not before thought Of her as an {
y complice OF Webster Spears. He h
le associated her with Ryle Carmot
for whom she had seemed chiefly CT
z- cerned. And he had preferred to I
n, plain her evasions as her anxious
!. fort to extricate Rylie from the G