The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1942-09-03
CHAPTER VIII

Also present were q lieutenant ana
uniformed aid from the Tempujo
comandancia. During the entire
scene they said nothing aloud, only
whispered to each other as they
made notes. Extraordinarily re-
spectful, these two hombres. OF the
presence of death, or Senior Mon
taya? Curt was aware of them only
subconsciously. He stared down at
Bill Henderson. A severe blow on
the back of the head, DR.. Berry had
said.
An idea! Reaching out, Curt rolled
back one eyelid of the unconscious
man, then the other. Both eyes were
clear. One pupil was contracted,
the other dilated; that was the con-
cussion. But the whites were clear!
Curt compressed his lips. He lifted
the square of gauze that hid the
mangied chest. The stain of the
TINA yersicolor was there, but it
wasn't red. 1t was scarcely copper
pink
When Henderson was drunk this
area of his skin became fiery, his
eyes bloodshot. But he'd just lost a
great deal of blood. How much
would that affect the skin? And if
he'd drunk only few minutes be-
fore the accident, perhaps there
wouldn't have been time for the
eyes and the skin to betray the fact.
Curt became aware of the sur
prise of the doctors, that Montaya
was cycling him closely. The two
men from the constabulary had
ceased whispering in mid-sentence
TO watch. The photographer alone
paid Curt no attention. Still champ
ing on his gum, he was setting up
his equipment.
How did it happen?" asked Curt,
bitterly.
DR.. Fisher gave them the story.
Henderson lived at Tempujo in the
same building which housed the
young doctor, a bachelor quarters.
It was a sort of hotel for the single
white men working here. Fisher
knew that Henderson had shaved
and showered after coming in from
work, then changed into whites; that
he planned to run up to San Alejo.
"He asked me if I wanted to go
along" Fisher said. "But couldn't,
not having arranged previously for
relief. I don't think he'd had a
drink at that time, when he went
to the shower ROOM"
However, doors were never locked
here, and were carelessly left ajar
more often than closed. Passing
Bills room later, after Henderson
had gone, Fisher had noticed half
empty bottle and glass on Hender-
sons table.
''That didn't seem strange" he
said. 81 thought nothing of it at the
time"
From there on Fisher had to re-
construct the unfortunate mans
movements. Henderson, first went to
the dispatcher's office for an okay
on his trip; that much was fact.
But the track wasn't clear. So Hen
dersou drove to the end of the yard,
threw a switch, and backed his mo-
torcar onto a siding to let the in
coming train pass on into the yard.
Then the track would be clear for
him.
Apparently his drinking had be-
fuddled his brain so that he'd for
gotten to throw back the switch.
The incoming train, a locomotive
and three flats, took his siding
and plowed head-on into the motor
car, telescoping it, throwing its en-
CINE back against Henderson.
Young Lister had by now got his
pictures here. The others followed
him soberly out into the yards while
he took pictures of the wrecked car,
now a mass of junk. There was
nothing more to be done, so the
four men headed back to San Alejo.
On the way Montaya continued to
smoke his long cigarettes. He
seemed angry, bitter, brooding, frus-
trated. About halfway across the
flats he held forth.
There is no excuse for this kind
of accident. There is no excuse for
drinking to excess. More than once
have thought of establishing rule
that any employe becoming drunk
on the grounds shall be let out at
once. But I can't do that" he
shrugged.
No one answered.
Suddenly Curt remembered the
two khaki-clad police representa-
tives. He wondered. Did their whis-
pering and note-taking constitute an
s'inouest?" Was this kind of inquest
held IN the cases of Mitchell and
his wife? More than likely, he
thought. Without a doubt Montaya
"owned" the police, and it wasn't
to his advantage to stir up any fuss.
Curt told Lee about the accident
withoat dressing up the story. Gave
her the simple facts without the
CORY details. She was silent for
some minutes.
Then, "Jeff," she said quietly,
ssTm no fool. What's the answer?
This is the third death by violence
here ia less than three weeksl"
Curt was sitting on the low couch
hammock on the porch, bent for
ward, elbows on knees. His hands
were busy with his pipe. Lee
dropped into the hammock beside
him.
sWhat's strange about it?" he re-
turned at last. But he didn't lift his
ewes to hers. There's always a LOT
of drinking and sometimes sudden
deaths among construction workers
in a place like this. You know that.
IT was so in the earlier days of AS
ISOLATED across the river"
He reached for her hand, pulled
her closer to him.
But" There was catch in her
voice. "Oh, darling, darling, be
careful, be so very careful. If any
thing should happen to you :"
"Don't worry your head about
that sweetheart. There's no dan.