Hungry Horse news., 1948-04-30
hIAxN BLACK ~alks9 4kk1t3 ~
81 3 ~ xu1Rs., SOMBREROWA
EXyisf%I1%Sby C LIFFORD KNIGHT .~sSSSes J

II At the time it didn't occur to n,
! that Reed Barton had never heard
the baby. / supposed. Of course, b
had, for he knew Elsa's friends
But it was revealed subsequent
that, during the height Of the go.
sip, he was in Mexico.
The conversation came back t
Aunt Kitty Chatfield. Rogers aske'
If there had been any physical re
semblance between Elsa and he
aunt.
None whatever" answered Reee
Barton. THAT is, as I remember
Katherine Chatfield. I never saw
the two side by side, however. As
a matter of fact, I had never met
Elsa until today. She must have
been at home that night her aunt
died, for I remember that the maid
asked me which Miss Chatfleld
wished to see."
"You were there that night?" in
quired Rogers, his mild blue eyes
coming to rest upon Reed Barton's
face.
Eyes. You see. I'm one Of Cheese
bros slaves At times only his err
rand boy, although I'm supposed to
be something of a mining engineer.
But am required to run great
many personal errands for Cheese
bro. I think 1 took Miss Chatfeld
book-something that had inter-
ested Chesebro, and which he want
ed her to read too"
st see," said Rogers. "And she
died that night"
Eyes. She killed herself some time
that night"
Rogers was silent for a moment,
then he looked at me- There's one
chap from the police department in
Pasadena whose report interested
me, Madison. He says that he
smelled chloroform family when he
went into the room to investigate.
That was several hours afterward.
No one else smelled it, however.
t might have been an overactive
,dor of it noted in the autopsy re-
port. But chloroform is peculiar in
hat respect; the odor is not neces-
;arily present even at autopsy in a
Ieath from chloroform.
Eyes, of course" said.
You're not by any chance think
ng that Katherine Chatfeld was
Professor Rogers?" in
uired Reed Barton.
Rogers smiled family. 81 have
o opinion, Mr.. Barton. The case
as been closed for over a year
ow. Who am I to stir it up at
lis time? The police were satisfied
lat it was suicide; there were no
ngerprints, except her own, on the
ypodermic syringe she used, or on
lie bottle in which she kept her sup
ly."
II guess I was one of the last to
,e her alive" said Reed Barton s
ter a short silence, looking beyond :
ogers to a group making merry in
/ opposite booth. 1--WE since been
ad it wasn't murder. The police .
light have made it uncomfortable
r me; they could have saddled a
olive on me that I couldn't have
a.
Id killed my father just as much
if she had pulled a trigger.
lings were looking up, you know.
lther had struggled all through
= worst of the depression to keep |
ngs together; he'd managed |
mellow to make the interest pay |
snts to her. She held a mort !
ge, you know, on all he had. Even |
little as two months extension >
uld have seen him out of the
ods. But-you know, there's no
ylock like a woman Shylock-her |
und of flesh must come from the !
art. And-so," he shrugged his /
father jumped" He y
mt on after moment: 1.-THE po- =
e could have said I hated her. 4
It I don't think I did" ),
Dwight Nichols tapped the ash II
I'M his cigarette and looked away II
'ough the gathering dusk across II
: vast Pacific into which the SUMS II
rk red ball had sunk. The air II
IS humid; small waves Tapped H
fly on the damp sand. Indeed so II
-pervading was the feeling of wet II
SIS that I fancied I could push off n
nm the veranda rail of the beach II
ID, where Dwight, Huntoon Rogers
d 1 sat, and swim out across the L
Un. Two screaming children had i;
en- engaged in feud on the beach Il
d the mother with difficulty was II
W bringing them toward the club II
use. Dwight seemed more inter- II
ted in them at the moment than VI
my remark about Kitty Chatfeld. II
: he drew twice on his cigarette ii
fore he replied: II
"Oh, should say that Katherine ii
Hatfield might have been forty-one II
two when she died. She was not II
l." II
According to the files," Huntoon Il
ogers said, coming to life after II
ag contemplation Of the sea, "she n
as forty years and ten months :
L."
"But Elsa" began. =
II am coming to her. We are al.
avs getting back to Elsa. There
as new blood with Elsa's mother.
was an alien strain to the Chat