Show Snow Evidence By VIC Y YARDMAN ed Ne Features STABLE Cm TOM DRAKE of the Canad In polIce parked h s en ca alongside the road The two men cl over the snowbank made by the road pIc plot and started across the field folIo ving v vm m ing a double I 1 ne of tracks On s des save for the double line Ime oj of foot prints and a few deep impress sons s ons about two inches square the Eno v lay in an unbroken blanket Presently they came to a clump of 01 shrubbery Behind It the footprint ended There was a deep Impress I s on m in the snow about the s ze of a aman amans man mans s body Th s IS as where It happened aU all aUr r Drake so sa d He po to the thc foot prints That set of pr nt me there was made by Morrison as he apI That other I ne head mg back the way we came was made by h m return ng with Ed Edwards Edwards wards bOdy across hIs s The ImpreSSIOns are deeper It must have happened before last n s storm Sam Ba ley leysa leysa sa d Except for Morr son s there Isn t the thc sign of a foot print t Drake shook h shead s head Morrl son sa d when he found the body it was lying out m in the open If It at had happened before the storm It et would have been covered with snow wouldn t it Bailey scratched his lus head Seems log cal St ll II how did Edwards Edvards h m self get here WIthOUt leaving any foot pr Both men looked puzzled Walt Wait here Drake sa d He made a w v de circle of the spot All he found as several deep Impress ons ens about t vo inches square which he had ob observed served when v hen he first entered the field Not a s of a h Iman toot foot footmark mark he reported to Ba ley I thought perhaps someone might have done some long range shoot shooting mg ing Let Lets s get back to the car There s no one around here hates Edwards enough to want to kIll h m BaIley observed It must have been a stranger If there were any strangers around we d have heard of it 11 Drake lIghted a cigarette and puffed a few moments in ID s lence Ed Edwards Edwards wards has been having good luck thus winter with hIS traps There s sa sa a report that he brought mas in a s lver Iver fox Times are hard and men do strange things when the reward amounts to the profit a silver fox pelt would bring He was s lent agaIn Barley Bailey guessed he was recall ng the names of men who m go so far as to comm t murder for a sIlver fox pelt Joe Lambert s w wife e IS go ng to have a baby Bailey hazarded He needs money bad It wouldn t be Joe He t the courage Suddenly Ba ley grinned Well how about N Nifty ty Shepp N Nifty ty Shepp lIved alone on the its of the village a lazy sh shiftless low lov lovable able sort who frittered away his time inventing worthless gadgets during the winter wh ch he sold to tour during the summer Suddenly Drake snapped his fin fingers fingers gers By golly I think I ye ve got It He drew on his lus gloves and started the car Got The murderer Who was its It N Nifty ty F Fifteen teen minutes later Drake stopped m front of the shack m in wh ch Id Ed yards the murdered vie tin had lIved They went inside He was s here at the table when It happened Drake sa d Those dark sta ns on the floor were made by blood He flung open the back door and went out Just as asI asI I suspected he said a moment later re entering the room Come on we re go ng to call on N Nifty ty It was ten m les to I 1 fifty ty Shepp s place The short northern day was drat dra mg ing to a close when they reached It A lIght sho shoed Cd ill in the cabin s window Go lD in and talK tale to him Drake d rested Keep hun him inside while I have a look lookaround lookaround around Ten minutes later Drake entered the kitchen there Ba Icy ley and Nifty Shepp were engaged lD in conversa Lan uon Nifty looked up lD in surprise at al als atS s of Drake Why howdy Tom Didn t know you were here too You been s out there in the cold all thiS t me No N Nifty ty I haven t I ye ve bee I searching your barn I found a apa apa pa r of stIlts in there one of your inventions Tho e a stIlts make an Impression m in the snow about inches square If you were carry carrying mg ing anything as heavy as a man while wearing g them they d s pret pretty pretty ty far down into the snow I else alse found II a trail trat that led off through your back lot toward Edwards Go GoIng Going Ing that way It s only a couple a 0 miles mikes We found the marks of stilt all around Edwards body Bailey clamp the cuffs on him before ht hE gets a not on to plug us too |