The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1939-04-20
CHAPTER "

thoroughfare. ms Is the road,
he said. ''I'n show you."
And he drove more slowly, study
ing the way. Woodlands shut them
in on either side before he stopped
at last, where there was path, and
house among the trees.
''This is where let her out"
he explained.
Tope nodded, looking toward the
house Probably Doctor Cabler
lives there" he suggested. How
far had she ridden with your"
"I was coming down this hill,"
Clint explained, and he drove on,
said presently: at must have been
along here somewhere that / over
took her"
Tope commented: mo houses
anywhere near
They're on top of the hill," Clint
replied He put the car swiftly up
the grade and the three houses
came into view.
Tope said, in a low tone as though
he might be overheard: Drive
slowly, Clint
'I'u STOP" Clint amended. He
pulled UP the car beside the road,
and got out, under pretext of in
specting the tires; but at the same
time, under the brim of his hat, he
looked attentively at these three
houses by the road. So did Tope and
Miss Moss too.
There was an undertaker's gar
land attached to the door of the
house in the middle; and car
with doctors tag stood beside the
road. The day was warm and fine
after the shower; yet nowhere did
Clint see a window open. Some of
the shutters were closed and at 9TH
er windows thick curtains hung.
Behind the houses, the woods were
dark and still.
When Clint presently drove on, he
looked at Tope to see what impress
sion the older man had received.
''Wel, there they are," he said.
''What do you Think"
Tope answered with slow smile:
''Why, l get notions. Fool notions,
maybe, Clint; but I've got in the
habit of believing them. It feels to
me as if the people that lived in
those houses were afraid.
The girl was afraid" Clint
agreed. But what would they be
afraid of?''
'Weu," Tope reminded him, his
tone suddenly grim, "a woman died
of poison in there last night. If
she'd known it was going to hap
pen, she'd have had right to be
afraid"
So Clint was silenced; and they
came on into the suburban town that
was their destination, and found Po-
lice Headquarters. Miss Moss elect
ed to stay in the car while they went
inside.
Inspector Heale came to meet
them. He was lean and gray, and
his brows were extravagantly
bushy. He shook TOPICS hand, and
spoke some hearty word.
might have known you'd be
around" he said humorously. You
old buZzard! How do you hear about
these things so soon? I didn't even
know Mrs. Leaford was dead till
you called me up"
Done anything?" Tope asked Sc
riously.
Inspector Heale babe them come
into his Office and closed the door,
and he shook his head mo" he
confessed. Doctor berries gone
to look her over, of course. Doctor
Cabler hadn't notified him. Cabler
was called in late last night, slept
late this morning. That's why he
hadn't phoned Doc Derrie. He said
there wasn't any hurry"
And he explained: Mrs. Leaford
had been taking this dope for years.
She took an overdose once before,
and came near passing out. This
time it was nearer than that"
Dead when Doctor Cabler got
there?" Tope inquired.
Before that, guess" Heale ex-
planned; and he looked at Tope and
then at Clint inquiringly. "But I
want to know how you heard about
it." he reminded them, and Tope
babe Clint tell the tale of his adj
venture the night before.
So Clint repeated his story; and
Inspector Heale listened without in
corruption till he was done.
The girl was Miss Leaford," he
explained then, MRS. Leaford's
daughter. She found her mother
| dead, and the telephone was out of
order on account of the shower, so
she ran to get the doctor" He
grinned. 81 didn't know she made
the trip in her nightie,' he adj
mitted. They're a queer lot up
there, and she's as queer as the
rest of them"
They're that way about every
thing" Inspector Heale insisted.
''You take electric lights. Hurder
put them in his house, here a few
years back; and then the others
hooked his meter, to save meter de-
posits. The light company kicked,
but those folks on the Hill, they
mostly get their own way when they
want it. Old Mrs. Bowdon-she'
seventy if she's a day-you can
argue with her till you're blind and
she don't give an inch.
And Mrs. Taine's as bad" Heale
continued. ''She's one of these
thin, stringy women IN a black
dress; and she talks In a kind of
whisper as If butter wouldn't melt In
her mouth. She can strip the hide off
you and never raise her voice. She's
a worker, too. She'll put on over
ais and go right at it. Do any
thing. For instance, she wired her
own house and Bowdon's, and
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