Arkansas State press., 1944-01-21
CHAPTER XIX

tanh uo SAlQ. Inc nanuS OF hfo
watch were stopped at nine-nine.
But that II an impossible hour;
Rumble was alive at that time and
with 10 In the h,r. He checked out
Of b. hotel at ten-thirty. and dis.
appeared. His body was found float.
Ing later near the wharf. His bag.
discovered In the water at the edge
q the wharf. indicates that he was.
In spite Of his quarrel with Dwight
Nichols, determined to 60 aboard
the orkaba and accompany Us
swordhshins the next day. Rumble
was like that. senior; he was q
strange man."
Doctor Cruz's face wrinkled st
the corners OF his eyes, and he re.
marked, II observed as much, Sc
nor Rogers
"The hour of nine-nine has no
meaning, unless we can explain ii
satisfactorily That, think. is quite
simple. OF course, the watch could
have stopped of itself, but I'm sure
that's not the explanation. The first
day ashore after the Orizaba ar
rived in Mazatlan, we met Rumble
on the street. The time of day was
mentioned. He looked at his watch,
which ] noted did not agree with
mine. In fact, it was two hours
slow. He explained it by saying
that he was still keeping Los Ange-
les time, which is two hours slower
than Mazatlan time.
Nov. then," Rogers went on ear.
nestly. assuming that, on the night
he died, his watch was still keeping
Los Angeles time, what does that
signify? He must have died at elev.
en-nine. That simpliHes things i'm.
mensely. Where were we all at
that time? Barry Madison and I
at that time were on board the
Orizaba. The others-Elsa, Dwight
Nichols. Sam Chatfield and Reed
Barton-came aboard about mid.
night. Reed Barton arrived alone
at the wharf. having had to 60
around by his hotel for his things.
Elsa. her father. and Dwight Mich
OILS went to the wharf together. What
time, Reed, did you reach the
wharf,"
As I've said before. Hunt" Reed
began. . smile spreading over his
features. Il don't know what time II
was. Time meant very little to me
that night"
"How long had you been waiting
when the others arrived?"
I'd have to guess. Hunt. Per.
haps twenty minutes. Maybe half
an hour"
did you see anything Of Rum.
ble7"
mo"
Rogers turned to Dwight. what
time did you reach the wharf,"
"Oh," said Dwight. I'VE left the
hotel at quarter to twelve. Went
down in taxi. Shouldn't have
taken five minutes"
Now, this question, Dwight: Aft.
err Barry and left you and Sam
Chatfeld together. what happened?
We're you together the remainder
the EVENING""
Dwight was slow to answer. At
length he replied: mo. Sam and
separated at ten-thirty. He said
there was something he had to do
yet before he could go aboard the
Orizaba. He came back about an
hour later. 1t was eleven-thirty, at
any rate, when met him again"
Where was Elsa?"
"She kept right on dancing after
Reed left her, | believe. Some cab
allero took his place. Sam had
pry her loose from him when he
came back. so we could 60 down to
the wharf"
80 you and Sam Chatfeld sepa.
rated" said Rogers, as II apprais-
ing this interesting bit Of informa-
ton. did Sam say what he had
to do?"
mo"
what did you do in the mean
timer"
II watched the dancers at the
hotel for a while. Then I wandered
out upon the streets, looked in at
the bars. I had it in mind to find
Rumble and see II I couldn't com.
pose our misunderstanding. At least
hoped could get him to soft pedal
on his information about me the
night Katherine Chatheld was muir
dered."
"And you didn't find him?"
mo"
ibid you 60 to the wharf,"
mo" Dwights face had slowly
flushed underneath his tan. II see
what you're driving at, Hunt" he
said, his tone becoming a trne
sharp. II have no allbi any more
than Reed has-or Sam Chatfeld."
Eyes, I know"
Lombardo stirred. But" he
pointed out, "Senor Chatfeld Is one
Of those who died"
Rogers did not respond to this
statement. We sat looking at him
wonderingly. He seemed In no hur-
ry to continue. Finally he said:
Perhaps, senior, we have made
q wrong assumption somewhere
our discussion has not disclosed the