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Show yl ylfL fL A ? ' INTH 4 4r 4FORES FORES r ' \ } T X11E J/ J Ja / a , X11 E Illustrations 2 1 1iN Rw iN AIYERS ' wNu fwNu qh ' 1 f fr r wNuey hLold eyhLold ey T Tr r v vI I f fo o ti tiCHAPTER 1CHAPTER t 1 ; CHAPTER XI-Continued XI Continued XI - Continuedf XIContinuedJ XIContinued12 J --12-- 12 -12- - 12J 12"So 12"So 12 - J { "So So " that's thats ' where he had It Itchcd ' { ' ached chcd ched , ehstopping eh-stopping eh stopping eh ? ' -stopping stopping - stopping and nnd peer peerilg peerg peertag ilg g down at the hole . ' 'Let's Lets Let's ' ' ' see see.he see.lie seeAc .he he .lie lie . . box , Young " 3 r . rKerry Kerry plvote pivoted on one foot , snUI snug snugling ; 1 snugtllns Ung ling the bo bos box . against ag1.lnst ag1lnst . his lils sI side sidetwinging e , wInging It away from the out outitretcbed outItretched outitretched itretcbed Itretched hand . 1 X [ "Not Not " just yet , sheriff shenfI , , ' ' he saId saIdf saIdBrId saidBridger saidF f BrId Bridger er ga gawpedot gawped wped wpedi wped4'Not i I gawpedI , 4'Not 4Not 'Not Not ' ot just . . . Say-stralghten Say stralghten Say-straighten straighten Saystraightenhg Say , " - straightenas hg g and " whirling "hlrllng hlrllng on Ezra- Ezra Ezrajust : Era I:7rl I7rl ? : - ' 'justrhat justrhat ' just justhat ) ! , hat comes off here ? ' f The coroner coroners s face showed be bew bens " II Il IIrlerment Illerment 11erment lerment ; . . rlerment i < .Kerry Kerry . spoke quietly : I I "What's Whats " ' coming off , Bridger , , Is a acoroner's aoroner's aoroners coroner's coroners toroner's toroners atoroner's ' Investigation " " ! "Well-harshly- "Well Well harshly "Wellharshlyit's "Well Well " ; , " ' - harshly - It's Its ' a sherIff's sherIffs sherIff'snvestigatIon sheriff'svestigatlon sheriff'snvestlgatlon sheriffsnvestlgatlon ' ' ' nvestigatIon vestigatlon , , now . Give Gitie Gh e me that thatfox thatYoung thatox fox { : I ! " Young rose , then theni } ) "No No "ro ro " * * No , Bridger "hen hen W " ' \ \ hen the tIle coroner coronerIns coronertax coroneras Ins tax finished , then it11 It 11 be time tor for torour foryour for/our for our " our- our your- your / ! ourt - your1Pho t } : "Who Who 'Who " ' 1Pho the hell hen are you to be but butjn butin butIn jn in ' Into a rnuider mUlder minder case ? ' ' Kerry Sht shiugged shrugged ugge . . . II , \ " 'Tm Tm "I'm Im "Pm Pm ' ' only a deputy coroner , " " he heJnhL helaid helaldL helaldL"Deputy JnhL laid . JnhL"Deputy " "Deputy Deputy " cor- cor corSince cor - Since when when'Ezra whenEzra ? ' Ezra grabbed the cue cue"For cue"For cue"For cueFor "For For " a couple of weeks weehs now , Nat Natappointed . . appointed Youn Young ; as cay my deputyo's deputyo's deputy deputyo's , > o's os ' to ha\e ha e hale ha \ , e another pilr p\tr p tr pair ' \ of eyes eyeslid e es esIDd esind IDd lid ears e\rs e rs ' \ In this country " The Tlie sheriff sh rlff scratched scratche his he\d he d head headtnd heldind ' \ tnd nd grunte grunted Tod West took tooh a stepit step stepr it > r two \ which \ hlch put him coce close ] : to the theable theable theable able an and leaned against ag\lnst ag lnst ' \ It It , , w watch watchag watcling tch tchng ng ag , listening llstenlng A tin cup \ was as there thereie"TpIcked thereieTpIcked , teplcke le " plclced It : " LO 1) 1 n ) and twirled it In his hislands hislands hislands lands His ills heart " was "as as pelting htbdbg hisribs his htb hisbs dbg ribs bs , , , uow now no " , but It was " as no momento moment o mike m\he m he make ' \ a mo\ mo mos mo\e mo e moe \ e , , to sa say sav a word wordThings wordThings Things [ , hlngs bad had been happening of ofPihlch ofwhich offfhich Pihlch which he ha had been Ignorant His Hisplay Hisplay Hisllay play was to learn as much as pps ppsilble ppsBible ilble Bible ilble"WeI1 Bible"Well ppsAble ppsAble"Well " "Well Well "WeI1 WeI1 " , even esen e ' en so , " began nrI Bridger Bridgerka Bridgerind ger gerlind lind lindscratchtd ka $ scratched scratchtd his head hea again Helazarded IIe He IIel1azarded Hehazarded l1azarded hazarded a course coure , : . "But But " you had your ; } our Inquest ; youIot yougot you youot " Iot got ; ot no novvhere nowhere " here Now low ow , seems to me meKQ , we got a hot lead on this case I Iguess Iguess IEuess guess It Its s up to my office oillce : to go got t gotrough rougb trough with It and mike m\ke m ke make ' \ the thepinch theInch pinch ( lnch . We Weve s \ e got to ha has have \ e a evidence evidenceo , fO ao ( I guess III Ill demand what you youtwo youtwo youwo two have ha\e ha e hale \ foun found here . " - "Demand Demand " away I " snapped Kerry . , oJ ! : > 'demand demand ' Kerry.remand Kerryremand emand and be damned damne to you youiridger , Bridger . Your authority nuthorIty Isn tone t one onetwo , two , three with a coroner coroners s Go Goread Goread Goread read your law law"if lawif law"t lawt . " it ! ' ' 1 , No nicd nLed need of this Bridger Brl ger knewthat knew knewthat knewtiiat that tiiat much , but on the rebuff rebut ! he hetushed helushed tushed ! usbed hotly . Before he could couldlVenk couldripeak couldpeak lVenk ripeak ( , however howe\er howe er howeser \ . , Young went "cnt cnt " on : "There's Theres " here's heres ' nothing about whatwe've whatwe've whatire've whatireve we've weve ' found to cover COer corer CO\ CO \ er up In this thisbox thisbox box are just three hundred doI1ars dollars dollarsIn dollarsn In three bills The serial numberslorrcspond numbers correspond numberscorrespond orrespond to those Cash drew drewrrom drewkrom drewErom rrom krom the bank the day ay he was waskilled waskilled wastilled wastilledf - killed killed"There f "There There " may be other items here herewblch herewhich herewhich wblch which will wlIl figure quite largely In inie inji ! ie e case , though " f | That That , , he knew hnew , was bad judguent ju judg judgpent g g.nent -.nent .nent pent - . . . . He knew it before the words "ords ords wordsere " wordsere ere out oot of his mouth , before West Westoppe Westopped WestJlroppcd oppe opped the tin cup He lIe did l drop dropfand and It roIle rolled across the floor floor.g"Just floor.gJust floorgJust . "Just Just " what d dyou you mean ? ' Nat Natmanded Natmanded Natemandcd NatemandcdK'We ( manded K-'We K 'We We " ' 'We We 1Ve - ' don't dont ' ' know yet . We've Weve ' just justade justado juslBade ade ado a atari start startt . Now , you're youre ' ' at lib liby liby libty y to do o any investigating insestigating 1m estl atlng you yount youat yoiint nt at to just so so- so sofong so1'ong -1'ong 1'ong 1ong - ' - fong Cong as you don't dont don'tegg don'tess don'less donless ' egg ess things tblngs up for us usOur usOur usj Our plan ; , " ' he concluded conclodell , "wastake "was was " > take this stuff stut ! In and go over overo overe ovciys o e evidence taken " ' at the Inquest Inquest'fBut InquestfBut But what about Stuart ? ' Stuart'I'Wcll StuartIWcll ' Well , you answer arumer anssser that . . What Whatout Whatout Whaout | out him ? ' * My God , ain't aint ' you goln goin ' ' to mahe make maheInch makeInch mak ( Inch ? ' Sorry terry erry debated Have Hase : l\e l e \ Holt Stuart Stuartgge Stuartgged Stuartigged gge gged off olr to the bhoestring hoestrlng Shoestring j'1l1 j1l1 jail j'1l1ore jailore jailtore ' ore Nan'a Nana r--an's r an's ans pan's pans - ' ' eyes ? Have lIne Hase : himIged him himged himged ged there , c\ c even cen esen \ en for tor no more moren morein n a few hours , perhaps , charge charged chargedtb chargedth tb th her father's fathers ' murder murder1 ? . . . . 'Do Do ' Do you think that's thats ' smart smarU ? ' ' he heed heed heked ed la In a conciliatory conclUatory tone , spar sparg sparg sparng g for time . . . "So So " far tar as we hnow know knowere's knoweres , re's res ' not a great deal against him himAnd himAnd himt And It If we keep quiet untlI until untlIorrow untilorrow untilmorrow orrow . , . , . , who knows wbat'll wbatll what'd whatd wbat'llelop1 what'delop what'llyelop whatllyelop ' ' elop elop1 ? ' Bridge ridge saw his hlg chance of mal teak teakan makp , . an immediate Immel1late and nnd Impressive Impressiveest Impressiverest est fading . I'm Im 'm m ' not so damn sure . , Young Youngrow Youngrow Youngrow row 'cm cm 'em em ' in the can first flrst 'nd nd ' inUgate In InUgatc intigate i Ugatc tigate afterward atter\\ar atter ar \ , I say sayl sayi I It If he-- he he- heHut heBut he he'But - - 'But But ' I Hut But you might spill spll1 the wbole whole wboletter wholetter wholetter tter of ot beans Don't Dont ' you think thinkra , a . , It would be wiser to hold holdk1 holdk holdk ; k1 k ? ' 1 K certainly dot do I 1 Tm rm Fm not going going"half goinghalf " half cocked coched on thia tills this case . , Natvant Nat Natant Nati i ant a chanco chance to sit down and andUI andI + up np UI ) what we've weve wc've wcve ' got now . , " i encouragingRand . erry nodded once , encouraging encouragln encouragingnnd Rand nnd look looked ( ' ( } covertly covprtly cov'rtty covrtty ' n at t Tod Todt Todt Toiat t , t , , who was retrieving the tir tin tintv.JrUng tintwlrling > . twirling tv.JrUng tvJrUng twlrling . it with apparent cas ens casCS8 ensess casncs CS8 ess In bis h1.s h1s his . flnecrs fingers a again aln . . . Tin The , - - - - hinds h'1nds h1nds hands ' , . ho how however " e\ e es eer \ er , \ were ere trembling"What trembling"What trembling trembling"What "What What " d dyou you think . , Tod ? ' Nat Natashe Natasked Natasked Natasked"Whv ashe asked asked"Why "Whv Whv "Why Why " , , that's thats ' up to you Me , I d dta1.e dtake dtake ta1.e ta1e take . Stuirt Stu\rt Stu rt Stuart ' \ It if you YOD ve ye got anything anythingon on him rirst First rIrst , , though , I Id d 1001 look lookthis lookthis . this lav lay lavout out over pretty careful " "And And " : Ezia Czla Ezla an and I , " sal said Young Young"we'd Youngwed . , ' 'w w "we'd wed " ' 'd d ' probably better be hC\ hC hCIDg heading headingfor holdingfor ' \ IDg IDgfor for town to toss " 0 . n . . " 'I I ' I think thln1 . so , , too ; , " ' said the old oldmn oldman oldnnn m\n m n man ' \ , but his Il1s eyes were mystified ; lie he was W"lS WlS whs " following his deputy s lead ' Better bring along those thosebor thoseboards thoseboirds bo\r bo r boards ' \ s " Young suggested ' We ve ye vegot yegot vegot got that tire to change " They went "ent ent " outside , then leavingthe leavIng leavIngthe leavingthe the other three within , , and Kerry Kerryi Kerryput Kerryput i . put the bos box carefully on the seat seatcushion seatcushion - cusluon cushion 'Stall Stall ' Stall , , " he lie whimpered whlcpered whispered ; "Let Let " 'em em 'emcler 'emclear 'cmclear cmclear ' cle\r cle r clear ' \ out outi 1 ! ' He lIe looked it 'It at ' his right hand and andrubbed andrubbed andrubbed rubbed his finger tips together He Hetouche Hetouched Hetouched touche touched again a smear sme1r of stich sticky stickydirt stickydlit . dht dirt on the e edge ge of the bos box and andthen andthen andthen then busied busted himself " with "ith ith jick j1C1 jack . and andwheel andwheel andwheel wheel wrencli wrench wrenchror wrenchror wrencliFor For ror 20 minutes he stalled stnlled for fortime fortime fortime time In the changing of that tireIn tireIn tire tireIn In the beginning a low and hur hurried hurried hurried ried muttering came from the cabin cabinand cabinand cabinand and then Nat Kat spoke spohe freely freev ] . " "All All " rl right ht . , Butch Let's Lets ' me\s me s meas measure mesure measure ' \ ure tills this thing off oft , , now , , : so's sos co's cos ' we c'n cn c'ntel1 c'ntell c'ntell cntell ' tel1 tell a jury all about It when the thetime thetime thetime time comes " Sounds of pacings paclngs from the In Interlor intenor intcrior terlor tenor of the cabin , obsenatlons obsersatlons obsenatlonsargument obsersatlonsargument observationsargument argument Then , consciously In In'tent intent Intent 'tent tent ' tent , the sheriff sherlt ! and his hits deputy deputysearched deputysearched deputysearched searched the entry and the cabin cabins cabinssurroundings cabinssurroundings s ssurroundmgs surroundmgs surroundings for what they mlgbt might mlgbtfind mightfind mightfind mightfindTod find find'rod findTod ' Tod 'rod rod West remained le\nlng le nlng leaning lenlng'lgaInst leaningagainst leaningagainst ' \ 'lgaInst lgaInst against ' the table until they caml came cameout cameout ' out ; then he follo\\ follo followed folloed \ \ ed them " with "Ith Ith a afine afine afine fine show of Interect"Well interest"Well interest Interect interest"Well ; "Well Well " , , mebby y ; } you're youre ou're oure ' ' right right"Bridger rightBridger , " BrIdger said finally , , approaching approachingI approachingEzra approachingEzra I Izra Ezra : an and Young "But But " I got n a nduty aduty nduty duty I won't wont ' wait w\lt w lt watt ' \ too long I'll Ill I'lldrive ' I'lldrive Illdrive ' drive rlve to town to " n and come to vouroffice vour your vouroffice youroffice office tonight . . ' I'm Im ' leavin leavln ' Butch Butch'It Butchat Butchit 'It It at ' th ' ' Landin ' If he should get getawY getaway getaway aw\Y aw Y away ' \ . . . . , It's Its ' be just plain plalO hell helll I ! ' They dro drove drone , e off an and when tbev they tbev"ere theywere theywere "ere ere were " gone from sight Kerry Kerrydropped Kerrydropped Kerrydropped dropped his wrench . . "Give Give " me those boards bo\rds bo rds ' \ 1 I ] ' ' he saidexcitedly said saidexcitedly excitedly . . "Here Here "IIere IIere " . . . , Come on onEzra onEzra Dzra Ezra ' Let's Lets ' see what he use used to topry topry topry pry 'cm cm 'em em ' up " with "lth lth I ' " " " He went directly to the cache of oftools oftools o : tools besl beside e the door\\ door doorway dooray \ ay , eyeing eyeingtllh e evein elng elngtIll ; the tIll tllh ' implements one by one . . , . ' 'It's Its ' ' a bet I ] ' he muttered muttere amducked and andducked ucked ducked Inside and came out "lth lth with "ltha witha " vvltla a newspaper in his handsShleldln handsShielding hands handsShielding Shleldln Shielding his hls palms with a torn tornpage tornpage tornpage page lie he lifted from Its resting restingI.lace restinglilace restingplace I.lace Ilace lilace . a worn and shining cro crowbar crossbar " bar . , . , ' 1\ 1 " that's thats "hat's hats 1hat's \ hat's hats ' the Idea . , . , . " Ezra Dzra be began becan gan an . . "Wbat'd Wbatd "What'd Whatd " ' you see tlieie thele there ? ' ' Young Youngdemanded Youngdemanded demanded eman e triumphantly trlumphJ.ntly trlumphJntly . . . "Look Look "Looh Looh " at atthe atthe atthe the end , Ezra Dua " ' " The 'the ' he ol old man peered closely'DIrty closely Dirty 'DIrty ' ; , " ' he be muttered "Dirt Dirt " stick stickIn stickin stickIn In ' to it ' " , "And And " what kind hind of dirt dirt ? ? Don't Dont Don'tyou Don'tyou Don'tyou Dontyou ' you get it ? It's Its ' the same color and andhln andkind andkind hln kind as that under the floor 11oor , there ! 1Scrape Scrape a little of It off in a clean cleanpaper cleanpaper cleacpaper paper . . , . , ' There 'rbere rbere 1 ! That's Thats Th'1t's Th1ts ' ' ' right . . . . , . . He used this bar to bust up upthat upthat upthat that har hard clay and make m\ke m ke ' \ a hole holefor holefor holefor for the bos box and ho he used It to pry pryup pryup pr ; up those floor boards . . . Here . . . Give Ghe Gise me one ! . . . . . See ? The Themark Themark Themark mark on the boar board fits exactly 1 I ' ' But ut I don't dont ' et " "loung loung " see y ; } set why- why whyloung why why"loung - loung Ioung gave Jave save ; an nn excited laugh'Good laugh'Good laugh Good 'Good ' Lud , Ezra I 1 ! llils lhiis hls old bu's bus bar's bars bar'sas bu'sas bar'sas barsas ' as smooth and bright as It If It'd Itd It'dbeen it'dbeen it'tbeen ittbeen ' been polished pOl1she 1 I ! ringer Finger prints |