The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1934-04-05
Characters figuring
F in our new serial
The Wedding
March Murder
CHAPTER VII
Kilday's Case

; Kilday's Case
sBut that's impossible, man." ex-
claimed Sergeant Kilday tmcatiently.
saThe 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 alley? He whistled, tuneless-
". 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 revolt
yer had been concealed by the MUIR
derer, certainly. Peter revolyed the
question in his mind methOdically.
Had Franklin carried the weapon to
his wedding, fearing trouble? II 30.
why had he not used It. when at
tackled? ... --... ..--9
Or again, granting that he had tried
20 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 hidef It was Frank
Inns own gun. His possession Of It
could scarcely reveal the identity OF
the assailant. He thought of the
thumb-print, but dismissed 1t with q
shrug. The murderer had had no 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, Sergeantr the now
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 gun, I'd have left the gun alone.
Then, If ever was caught, ! could
plead self defense."
"How is this for q 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?
@If 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, It was Franklin's
own gun" expostulated the detec-
tive.
sThere's no doubt Of that" Cardigan
agreed, "but people have been known
TO borrow guns before. Obviously, the
guilty person was taking every pre-
caution to conceal his identity. 1t
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. 1t 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 thumb-printf
Do you think well still be able to
trace him by that?"
81 have my doubts" Peter declared.
sWhy should he have left q thumb
print on the revolver, when he took
the precaution to wipe off the knife,
unless" and the novelist sat suddenly
forward in his chair, .'by George,
Sergeant, that's It! Unless he wanted
rs to find that thumb-print. Have
you taken the finger-prints Of the dead
man?'
1--WE always take them, during the
medical examination replied the de-
tective. r..
eco get them. quick" Peter sprang
to his feet and began restless pacing
Of the floor. "I'm beginning to get
It, now. That thumb-print belongs to
Jim Franklin, and It was made after
his death. The murderer. taking
every precaution to conceal his own
identity, pressed his victims thumb
against the barrel after the crime, 50
that If we ever found the weapon, It
could lead us only to the dead man.
Very clever, too, and If It wasn't for
your practice Of finger-printing dead
men, we might have searched all our
lives for the possessor Of that print"
Sergeant Kilday FASTENED In search
Of the Photographic records which in
cluded the finger-prints Of the slain
man. The novelist had been correct
The thumb-print found on the revol-
yer barrel tailed exactly with that Of
Jim Franklin.