Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1936-06-12
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r swered questions frankly and fully
not realizing in the least that every
word he uttered closed the mel
more tightly about him.
s The police began by asking hin
about his relations with Haze
Woods, and he told them of his en-.
gagement to her. He also admit.
ted ownership of an automobile
and identified a linen dust coat a.
his property, although why the po-
lice had taken pains 10 fitch it from
the car and bring it here he coulc
mot imagine. With equal READINGS:
he admitted having driven out tc
his mothers farm on the evening Of
the murder and having left the cal
in the pine grove near the entrance
to the Ethridge lane. Yes, his. right
headlight had been out Of commits
sion.
To Gerald it seemed incbnceiv-
able these men could actually sus-
pect him of completely in the crime
Not until he had gone over and
over the story of his trip out and
back and had detailed his every &C
ton on that night without in the
least impressing them did he begin
to appreciate the seriousness Of his
situation. Why should they suspect
him of the murder, he demanded to
know. Why should he wish to
harm the man who had done more
for him than anybody in Westland?
What possible motive could he
have for destroying his b%enefactor?
They told him why in language
so plain, so brutal, that he was
! stricken dumb. Miss Woods had
been Amos Ethridge's sweetheart
and the cottage she occupied was
their love nest. She was the writer
Eof that "Thursday' note which
had been found on his body, and.
afer the show on the night OF his
Staying, he had called upon her, a,
: was his frequent habit. He had
gone directly from her arms to his
death.
Gerald leaped to his feet. "1hat's
a lie!!" he shouted. In a fury he
struck at the speaker. No attempt
was made to quiet him; on the con-
trary, his inquisitors undertook to
capitalize his agitation They goard-
ed him; they tainted him with be-
ing a fool; they told him things
about Etheridge and the girl that
would have driven any lover fran
tic. Vogel came in while this was
going on, but he took no part in the
proceedings. When Jerry refused
to be convinced, when again he
called them liars and defied them
to shake his faith in his fiancee:
they shifted their tactics and read
him his mothers deposition. He
listened while incredulity changed
to despair.
When they had finished he tolc
them, miserably: "You shouldn't
believe that. She's-not altogeth.
er responsible. She drinks more
than she should and there are time
when she's apt to do or say almost
anything. She's not a credible wit
ness"
"She wasn't drunk when sht
swore this"
"But- don't you see, there's just
enough truth to what she says tt
make it all sound plausible? Shf
doesn't know that l have an auto
: mobile. l didn't tell her because
well, because she would have con-
sidered it an extravaganza, so she
doesn't realize it was my car she
saw nass the house. I did leave
it at the grove and it did have only
one headlight. Yes and she saw
the tracts here he next morning
But she didn't actually see the muir
der, or she'd have told me. Why:
we talked it over when I got back
from Chicago and she never said a
word about it! Bring her here. Take
me to her. She'll set this thing
straight"
"You better come clean," one of
the detectives told him. "It'l save
a lot of trouble and you're not do
ing yourself any good raving like
this. You may save yourself from
the gal1ows." In spite of himself,
Gerald flinched. Pretty rotten to
kill the nan whb befriended you.
The jury won't be out twenty min
utes. Why, listen to this and do a
little thinking for yourself. Eth
ridge likes you, and one day he in
PRODUCES YOU to his gal. You fall