Chapter 5 chapter Five

DeWitt found a piece of tin and made a small shovel out of it.Then start digging out the ashes.After the second shovel, he let out an exclamation. There were four or five charred buttons in the ashes. "I think you'd better go out for a while," DeWitt said to Collis and Marion. "Things don't look good. You ladies go out and wait a while. I don't want to destroy any evidence. Han K, stand by the door. Too many people is a bad thing in a situation like this. I know exactly what to do and how to do it. Remember, that's what I do best." Collis and Marion went out.Collis was weeping, but Marion was indignant.Hank went down the path, which he said might lead to a spring.

A period of hostile waiting followed.Marion and Collis were sitting on a felled log about 8 feet apart.They both pretended to look at the scenery, but both of them were very nervous. After a while, Hank Lucas hurried back.He spoke briefly to DeWitt, and they set off, taking with them a shovel that lay by the fire in the corner of the room.Colliss didn't seem to see Hank's intentions, but Marion waited in horror, watching the two of them hurry down the path to the spring. They returned about 20 minutes later, and Marion could tell from their attitudes what had happened.DeWitt was constantly on the move, no doubt taking full charge of the whole thing.And Hank, shovel in hand, followed, his head drooping in frustration.

DeWitt said, "Collis, come here." As she walked toward him, DeWitt murmured something and glanced almost furtively at Marion now and then.Marion saw Collis startled, heard her cry out; and then they went down the path, leaving Marion sitting alone on the log. Ten minutes later they were back, and the cold hostility in DeWitt's eyes confirmed Marion's worst fears. He said: "It is my duty to inform you, Miss Benton, that we have found the body of Frank Adrian. There is conclusive evidence that he was shot in the back of the head with a high performance rifle, It's a soft bullet. From the rest of the evidence I've found, there's no doubt that your brother is the murderer."

Marion stood up: "How can you say that! You just made a hasty judgment on circumstantial evidence. My brother may live with him, but he is not the only person in the mountains. After all, Adrian's Somewhat unhinged. He—” "Shot yourself in the back of the head with a rifle?" DeWitt said wryly. "Well, I guess there are others in the mountains, my brother and Adrian may have found a bonanza and—" "That," said DeWitt dryly, "will be something you can try to prove to a jury after we get your brother." "Or," said Marion desperately, "the body might belong to someone else."

"The identification was absolutely solid," DeWitt said, "although the body was not in good condition because of the shallow burial, Colliss made a positive judgment, and besides that, Colliss made a positive judgment before he got here. , and gave me some identification methods. The identity of the corpse will not be a problem. My duty is obvious. Your brother is now a fugitive. He fled first, and he fled for a long time. But his escape route, it seems It's easy to find. I'll ride down the road and there's a telephone at the end of the road." After DeWitt went to comfort Colliss, Hank Lucas came up to talk to Marion, his apologies palpable. "There's another way out of this area," he said. "About fifteen miles from here, you'll be on the motorway, and there's a farm and a telephone. DeWitt thinks he should be there right away." There, I must guide him. Collis is tired, but she doesn't want to stay here."

"Hank, tell me," Marion said tearfully, "I don't believe the evidence this man has found. He's biased, arrogant, a bully—" "He's a good detective," said Hank Lucas. "The evidence he's found, Marion, has a lot of clues to the whole thing." "Is that body Frank Adrian's?" "There seems to be no doubt... I don't think it'd be right for you to stay near the cabin, given the circumstances. Don't you want to go back to the bivouac with Kenny and the cook?" "I don't want to. I want to get out of this place, I'm going to get out of here," Marion said, her voice almost hysterical. "I want to talk to a discerning person. I want to talk to the sheriff in this area."

"Well," Lucas reassured him, "the sheriff is a fair and upright man, but it's no use deceiving yourself. The evidence so far is extremely simple and obvious." "If they sue Harry for this, I'll pay for the best lawyer," cried Marion angrily. "Hey, don't do such a stupid thing," said Hank, "you'll get in real trouble then. Don't hire any overpriced town lawyer to come to the country. You can get a mediocre country lawyer here, he Familiar with cabin fever. Juries are familiar with cabin fever, and lawyers are familiar with juries—”

"We're wasting time," interrupted DeWitt. "We're running out of time in the day and we've got to ride faster. Do you think it's necessary to bring a pack horse for our sleeping bags?" "No," said Hank, "there's a forest watcher's station and a farm. We can have them put up overnight if we want, but I think we might get a car from Boise to pick us up." "Let's go," DeWitt said. "It's going to be hard work," Hank reminded. DeWitt is serious: "We can live with it, it's part of the job—my job..."

It wasn't until after dark that they turned the last bend on the seemingly endless path, saw the elongated light and shadow, and heard the voice on the radio. Collis Adrian almost broke down.DeWitt, gripping the pommel firmly, slumped over the horse like a pile of meat.Marion, because of his correct posture in the saddle, seemed quite used to it, but his whole body was also indescribably tired.Only Hank Lucas looks relaxed and in good spirits. Once at the Forest Watch Station, however, DeWitt soon perked up.He seemed like a fish in water, making phone calls, requisitioning vehicles, and taking on command tasks.Marion had to admit that, as a manager, he deserved it.

Ted Meek and Hank chatted as they waited for the car from Boise.The farmer, who lived about half a mile away, had arrived in high spirits after answering the call very candidly from the shared telephone. "How about the livestock?" "Excellent. For about eight months of the year there is always plenty of hay on this meadow." "How's the horse?" "very good." "Do you want to sell some?" Mick grinned: "You don't want to buy it." "Ever came a stray horse?" "Oh, yes!" said Mick. "When the horses came in to eat hay last winter, a black horse came in too. It was big and strong. I had never seen it before. I don't know whose. brand."

"The left forefoot is white? There's a star on the forehead, right?" Hank asked, twirling a cigarette deftly in one hand. "yes." "Is the horseback okay?" Hank asked casually. "It's fine now," Mick said, laughing, "but it wasn't so good when it came." "About 15? A little hollow in the back?" Lucas asked. "You won't tell me it's yours?" "No, but I know whose." "Well, now its owner should pay for the feed." Marion listened to the conversation absent-mindedly, not quite understanding what it meant.As the murderer's sister, she finds herself excluded from this small group.In fact, she knew that DeWitt didn't even like her in the room, because she could hear the instructions on the phone for Harry Benton's arrest.So when she hears the car motor, she finds it a welcome relief that they're on the road again... The trip to the county seat was long, and when they finally reported to Bill Catlin it was nearly midnight.They were all exhausted. The old sheriff looked at them curiously, his manner calm, deliberate, and deliberate. "I see you've had a pretty rough ride," he said to DeWitt. "Perhaps you'd better get some sleep before we get to work." DeWitt puffed out his chest. "I can't sleep with so much to do. I'm going to wait until everything is sorted out before I rest." "Well, we can actually take over now," the sheriff assured him sagely. DeWitt shook his head. "I don't want to look vain, but I happen to be here and I'm going to get on with my job." Bill Catlin said half-heartedly, "We rednecks wouldn't do well in the city." DeWitt smiled. "But on the other hand," said Catlin, "in the country we've done pretty well." "My hope," DeWitt said, "is that one day every county in the United States will have a police officer trained in the city." "Well, that might be a blessing," Bill said. DeWitt's voice was hoarse with fatigue: "Okay, if you don't mind, let's close this case." "You mean it's over now?" "Yes, bring one of the criminals to justice." "Who?" "Use your brain," said DeWitt impatiently, "recreate the crime, and deduce it from the facts." "What the hell do you mean?" "Hank Lucas told me he knew the draft horse for a while, and he knew the man who sold it to Adrian." Catlin nodded. "After the snow last winter, when the horses came in to eat hay, the pack horse turned up near the forest watchman's station. Before that, it had been out foraging in the pasture." Catlin nodded again. "You can see what happened," DeWitt went on, trying to suppress his impatience: "In the stove in the cabin we found some buttons, which meant that some clothes had been burned. We Couldn't find a single piece of clothing, blankets, personal items or anything, just a few odds and ends of dishes. In other words, the cabin had been tidied up with such care that it wouldn't be safe for anyone to break in by accident. Come to think of it, it looks like the hunters who lived in it took their pelts and sold them at the end of winter." "That's what Hank told me," said the sheriff. "Well," said DeWitt, "Benton killed Frank Adrian, loaded the pack on the packhorse, and walked to the farm near the forest watchman's station, where he got on the road. He unloaded the packhorse, Let it go." "And then he disappeared." "Looks like it's done," said the sheriff. "Well," said DeWitt impatiently, "for God's sake, do I have to tell you? Think about what happened. It wasn't a cabin fever murder at all. It was a deliberate, premeditated murder." .Adrian had a lot of cash, and Benton ran off with it. What happened? He got on that road, unloaded his pack horse. This person must be a character in this drama, she's been keeping an eye on things, waiting until people are ready to start investigating, plotting to show up and pretending to be very worried as her 'dear brother'. In other words, very obvious , Marion Benton was her brother's accomplice, and the murder of Frank Adrian was premeditated." Marion jumped up: "How can you spit blood?" "Hello, wait, ma'am," said Bill Catlin authoritatively, "if you don't mind, please sit down and be quiet, and I'd like to ask you some questions when I'm free, but right now we're conducting a formal investigation , it should be Mr. DeWitt who spoke." Marion sat down slowly in the chair. Collis Adrian told the sheriff: "He may have hitchhiked and I don't think Miss Benton has anything to do with this case." "Don't be silly, Colliss," said DeWitt. "I understand your benevolent wishes. Miss Benton has deceived us all with her superb acting skills, but I am a trained investigator. .” Marley thought of something to say, but the sheriff motioned her to be quiet. "You imagine," continued DeWitt, "that the murder happened sometime before the snow, before the ground froze. They were there planning to explore and hunt, and they brought enough supplies to last the winter, probably It was all the supplies a packhorse could carry, so there must be a lot of stuff. Benton had to load it up and get it out, and then dispose of it. "I asked specifically about the traffic on that road. Outside of hunting season, there's hardly anyone on the road except the ranger and the guy with the farm there, and the postman. "I don't want to be sloppy, and I've spoken to the postman on the phone and specifically asked him if he remembers picking up a guy with a lot of camping gear." "Can't he hide these things?" Collis asked. "It's too dangerous," said DeWitt immediately. "There must be a lot of food that gets disposed of somehow: bacon, flour, sugar, coffee, and blankets and other carry-on items. Simply dump them in some It's too much of a risk to run, and as soon as people find these things, they know something out of the ordinary has happened." The sheriff nodded approvingly. "You have analyzed it very well," he said. "I think you'll find," DeWitt said haughtily to him, "that the principles of investigation are the same in the city as in the country. In the country, perhaps, the larger area makes it more difficult to find clues. But otherwise On the one hand, there’s a smaller population, which makes it easier to find what you’re looking for.” "Yes, I think you're right," said the sheriff. "Your reasoning was brilliant. I don't believe he could hitch a ride. Someone has to pick him up." "Then you'll find out what that means," DeWitt went on, "and it means premeditated homicide, where the crime was committed according to a certain plan, and whoever drove that car had to get there on a certain day. Sheriff , this is in your county, and I don't want to give orders to do anything, but if I have to, I intend to give orders. I want Miss Benton arrested as one of the two murderers of Frank Adrian. I Hope to arrest her now." The sheriff turned to Marion Benton: "Miss Benton, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a question or two. I know it's going to be a little awkward, but if you can answer it frankly, it will help to clarify the facts." Help... your brother is a bit headstrong, isn't he?" "yes." "Do a lot of camping and horseback riding?" "Done a lot." "Live in the mountains?" "yes." "Is he a pretty good prospector?" "yes." "Still a good horse traveler and hunter?" "yes." "Hank told me you're a good rider, I guess you ride a lot in the mountains, don't you?" "Ride some." "With your brother?" "yes." "When your brother does these trips, does he often take a man with him to do some binding work or something?" "No, of course not, he likes to do it himself." The sheriff turned back to face DeWitt. "Well, Hank said to me," he said, "when you found the cabin, there was a shovel in it by the fire, and some blood on one wall, but not anywhere else. There were some dishes in the little cupboard , washed and put away. There was no firewood or kindling in the house. The ashes in the stove were not scooped out, and there were a few buttons in the ashes. This note was stuffed behind the boxes that made up the cupboard. In the house There is nothing left to show that one of the two men who lived here was left behind. A pack horse was found at the end of the road with some skin worn off its back."