| Show Telegram Short Story FOOL PROOF By E. E P. P OBryan Ike ke Singles Slagle's plan to murder his neighbor Clem Tupper was complete complete com corn in every detail He had driven a a. distance of over two hundred miles mUes to fetch the mattress with which to replace the one on Clems Clem's bed which he would burn the moment Clem was out of the way And he had purchased some Mantels blankets blan Man and had slept in them several nights lights so that they would look used just as if it Clem had been sleeping sleep sleep- sleep sleep-I ing ng in them himself I His plan was unique He had I sneaked a horseshoe from Clems Clem's barn arn It was a mate to the shoes shoe on Clems Clem's roan He had made sure ure of that by comparing them when Clem was awa away Even the tho calks calka matched which was an Important im- im factor in his scheme He had tad nailed the horseshoe on the face aco of or an old wooden mallet he hemd had md picked up at a deserted saw saw- mill A few bl blows ws with the mallet and the deed would be done When they hey found Clem in the stable n near ar arthe the be heels of his roan the cause of death would be bo obvious No doubt of f it for the roan wac wae was known to have lave kicked his former owner half halt to o death Ike The Slagle's motive for tor m murderIng murder murder- Ing ng his neighbor was a mercenary on one ne CI Clem m Tupper had homesteaded an adjoining n forty which had turned out to be very desirable desirable- after fter Clem had developed It it Not sufficient time had elapsed for provIng proving Ing ng up on on the claim Now with Clem dead it would be simply a matter of slipping into the nearest land and office and filing on It as an adjoining claim It was was nearing daylight when he had lad completed his grisly task Clems Clem's mattress and bedding which had bad been replaced with the slightly soiled oiled blankets and brand new mattress mattress mat- mat tress he carried to the waiting pyre of oC dry pine limbs he had prepared prepared pre- pre pared ared the day before In a few moments all the grim evidence of his foul deed curled aloft Into the white hot glow he tossed the bloody mallet Later when the ashes cooled sufficIently he would retrieve the horseshoe and toss it away Going immediately to notify the sheri sheriff of the tragedy Ike Slagle explained in detail how he had found the he body I went vent over this morning morningto to 0 borrow his horse he concluded I 1 was going to haul some lome wood on the sled Kicked to death by his hoss eh Yeah That roans roan's a bad animal Always told Clem not to get too near his heels Why you can even see the calk marks in his scalp Too bad the sheriff said Clem was a right good citizen A small group of men had gathered gathered gathered gath gath- ered about the Tupper barn for Ike had thoughtfully spread the news along the way The body was lying against the tho wall walt at the foot of the stall The animal h had d a saddle on I its it LB back one stirrup hooked over the horn and the cinch not yet drawn t together gether Must have just started to saddle up someone remarked and Ike felt a surge s of ot confidence welling up within him Hi His plan was fool proof It made him laugh to think how bov simple murder was when it was planned thoroughly i Shore enough can see the the shod sho prints the sheriff sherif said giving the corpse a cursory examination The others agreed with him The cause of death seemed obvious The body was removed from the stall Meanwhile the sheriff found that Clems Clem's bed had been freshly slept in Must have happened early this morning the sheriff concluded Wonder Vonder where Clem could have been going to so early Maybe to look for his cow Ike Slagle SIngle said Jeff Prouty Prout who lived down the road mado made his appearance just as ho tho sheriff and Ike were leaving Clems Clem's cabin Jeff who had stopped to o talk with some of the others seemed excited Maybe wed we'd better measure them shoes shoe on the roan one of the men said as Je Jeff moved away Tho sheri sheriff glanced at Ike Slagle That shores shore's a good idea Ike said That would prove whether he got jot kicked or not There was no fear rear in Ikes Ike's voice no alarm registered registered regis- regis ered on his ta face e. e Why sh should uld bebe he be hebe be 30 afraid of the outcome Only yesterday morning before Clem was up he had compared those shoes and had measured them with cali call pers pera The sheriff and Jeff Prouty measured measured meas incas the shoes Their task competed completed com corn they withdrew to an adjoining adjoining ad ad- joining stall and conversed in whis whiz pers Meanwhile Ike Slagle talked glibly with his neighbors When the sheri sheriff and Jeff Jet Prouty came out of tho the barn the sheriffs sheriff's eyes were as a. hard as nails Seems to o me he said slowly if it a man was going to commit murder and make it look like a horse had done doneIt It It hed he'd sort of figure on using a shoe like the horse was we wearing ring Maybe whoever killed Clem Tupper done that I cant can't say But if it he did only by an act of ot God would someone meanwhile do something liko like Changing the horses horse's shoes all allot of ot a sudden like Jeff here tells me Clem did only yesterday noon because because because be be- cause the new shoes hurt the roans roan's feet Clem rode down and Jeff helped him change them I The sheriffs sheriff's eyes steadily borIng boring bor I ing into Ike Slagle's became pin i points Ike there aint any calks calka on them shoes the roans roan's wearing now My judgment tells me a man wouldn't notice them calk marks and call my attention to them like you did dd unless he had a very special reason Maybe we cant can't prove you done dose it unless we find the horseshoe you flailed him with but well we'll look at that fire tire you made early this morning morning morning morn morn- ing ing and sift sitt the ashes Meanwhile youre you're under arrest for murder Copyright for The Telegram |
