Southern Oregon miner., October 18, 1945, Image 2

A n tw e rp ’s T o ll .
OVERNIGHT
LONDON. — German V-weapons
killed 8,000 persons, injured 21.000
and destroyed 10,000 homes in Ant­
werp during the Nazi campaign to
knock out the port city, the Brussels
radio said.
4BEN AMES W IL L IA M S
T H E STORY T H IS FA R : Adam Blue«,
F B I operator, on a trip to hit old Pome,
ran Into kn prevlon» bo»«. Inspector
Tope, and M r». Tope. He »enl them out
to an auto camp operated by Bee De­
train.
Later that night Tope phoned
Bruce. a»kln< him to come out to De­
train'» at once and to bring State Troop­
er Quill. The Tope» had been rented the
F ara w ay cottage, where they found the
body of a man, with hand» and (eel
hound.
He had been murdered and
placed under the bed of the F araw ay
cottage. Quill went after the dlatrtct a t­
torney and a medical o S cer, while the
Tope» and Bruce dl»cu»»ed the ca»e from
what clue» and facta they could -Snd.
CHAPTER IV
Cumberland nodded. “How long’s
he been dead. Doc?”
Doctor Medford had already made
some examination.
"Twenty-four
hours, anyway," he said. "Probably
m ore.” He stripped off those bands
of black tape that half-concealed the
dead m an '; countenance. "Anybody
know who he is?" he asked.
They came to look; they saw an
old small man, with eyes twisted
slightly upward at the corners, a
nose thick at the bridge and nar­
rowing to a point which drooped
above the upper lid. Chin small,
retiring; a mouth framed in deep-
graved lines; gray, sparse, wiry
hair; a gray stubble on cheek and
chin. They looked, but no one spoke.
Then Cumberland said wistfully:
" I kind of wish Joe was here; but
Quill said you didn’t want anyone
else to know about this right away.
Inspector.” And he asked: "What's
your idea?”
"Well, Mat, maybe you'd better
send for Joe.”
Cumberland wiped his mouth with
his hand. "I don't know as Joe
could outdo you, on a thing like
this,” he admitted.
"He’s welcome to try,” Tope in­
sisted cheerfully. “But here’s the
way I see it: We can't trail all the
folks that might have done this; but
whoever put him here is waiting,
somewhere, for the excitement to
start. They’re in the dark.”
"Well, so are we!”
"But we're this much ahead of
them ," Tope argued. "We know the
body’s been found, and they don’t.
Mat. if it was me, I'd keep the whole
thing quiet, long as I could.”
"That’d be hard, to keep this
quiet. Some one's bound ts find
out.”
Young Adam spoke. “I think you’d
do well to let Tope run this, Mat,”
he urged. “Of course, I’ve no stand­
ing unless it turns out this was an
inter-state job; but if I had any say,
I’d want Tope in it.” And he add­
ed: "As for keeping it quiet, Amasa
Dewain doesn't talk much; and bis
housekeeper’s away. We can carry
the body up there tonight, let Doc­
tor Medford do the autopsy up there.
Then tomorrow night we can move
it to town.”
Cumberland nodded. "We could
do it that way,” he agreed. “Tope,
what do you say? Will you take it
on?”
The Inspector looked toward Mrs.
Tope, standing by the fire. “We're
on a sort of honeymoon,” he reflect­
ed. "But I don’t know. I don’t get
stirred up often, but I’m kind of
mad tonight. This looks to me like
a sneaking, cruel business. I'd like
to nail the man that did it.”
“I know,” Cumberland assented
heavily. “ It hits me that way too.”
And he reflected: “Joe won’t like
your being in it; but he’ll have to
stand it. If you’ll take it, you can
boss the whole job.”
So Tope agreed and made his dis­
positions. He sent Quill to awaken
Amasa Dewain and enlist his co­
operation. Adam and Doctor Med­
ford improvised a stretcher for the
removal of the body. Mat Cumber­
land asked:
"Anything I can be doing to­
night?”
Tope shook his head. “Have Quill
stay at Amasa's and keep his eyes
open,” he decided. "Adam will come
back and spend the night here in
case anyone comes around. Doctor
Medford can do the autopsy at the
farm tomorrow morning. You and
I will get a good night's sleep, and
I ’ll meet you there around nine
o’clock. That’s about all.”
And a little later, the Inspector and
Mrs. Tope said good night. But once
they were out of doors, she grasped
his arm with Angers like steel. She
whispered:
"I know him.”
He stared at her. "Know who?
The dead m an?”
"Yes.”
"Why didn’t you say so? Who is
he?”
"I wasn’t sure you’d want to tell
them, yet. It’s Mr. Ledforge.”
The name for a moment woke no
memory in him. “Ledforge?” he
repeated blankly.
“Yes, the head of New England
utilities,” she insisted.
"I saw
him once at a stockholders’ meet­
ing when I worked on Wall Street.
That’s he, dead back there.”
Mrs. Tope’s identification of the
dead man as Ledforge seemed at
first to Tope impossible of belief. “It
can’t be,” he protested. "Or there’d
have been a noise about it before
now.”
“Not necessarily!” she insisted.
“If he was kidnaped, his family
m ay have been warned to keep
quiet; or perhaps his business asso­
ciates are planning how to support
his stocks when the news comes out.
But it is certainly Mr. Ledforge.
Aren't you going to tell Mr. Cum­
berland?"
•
"Not tonight," Tope decided, bold­
ly. "Even if it’s true. I want a
chance to think, before this hulla­
baloo starts.”
"Will you tell Adam?”
"Adam's got a secret of his own.”
the old man replied. “I’ll keep this
to trade with him, by and by.”
Tope that night lay not long
awake; but he roused at dawn, and
he began to wonder by what route
the dead man had been brought to
Faraway. He got up and dressed
with quiet haste, and left Mrs Tope
asleep, and walked up the brookside
toward Faraway, where Adam
Bruce was still asleep; but he did
not disturb the young man. Yonder
on the knoll, half concealed by
intervening shrubbery, one of the
other cabins was visible. It seemed
the nearest to Faraway; and assum­
ing for the moment that those who
“ I fou nd th is ,” T o p e p o in te d to the
fo o tp rin t.
brought the dead man here had
lodged in that cabin. Tope began to
search the ground between.
He found two things. He found,
on a slanting ledge, a scratch which
might have been made by a nail in
someone's heel; but the scratch was
broader than the nail would readily
have made, and Tope reflected that
some men have set into the heels
of their shoes a small triangular
plate to retard the wear. Such a
plate might have made that scratch.
And he found a woman’s footprint!
The small French heel had sunk to
a depth of a quarter-inch or so,
leaving its imprint plain.
Tope
stopped to look more closely; and
then Adam Bruce came up the slope
to join him. It was still early; but
the sun had risen and now laid level
lances through the trees. Adam lift­
ed his hand in silent greeting.
“Found anything?”
“I found this,” Tope pointed to
the footprint.
"I judge whoever
brought him here lodged in this cab­
in.”
“This is named ’Little Bear,’
Adam told him. “If they did, Bee
will remember them .”
Tope hesitated. “Well, later,” he
decided. “ You keep out of sight for
now, go up to Dewain's farm, wait
there. Doctor Medford will be do­
ing the autopsy there this morning.
We’ll come up.” He added: “Now,
let’s go up on the knoll and see if
there are tire tracks in the drive.”
But as they came around to the
drive in front of Little Bear, Tope
forgot his present search. Whitlock
and Beal had been put, the night
before, in the cabin toward the road.
Tope saw that their car was gone;
aqd he strode that way, Adam upon
his heels. They came to the cabin
and Tope threw open the door.
The beds were in disorder, but the
place was empty. Whitlock and Beal
were no longer here.
Tope shook his head in self-
reproach. “I'm getting old.” he said.
"I ought to have anticipated that.
Too late now. All right, son. I’ll
see you at the farm .”
So Adam departed, and Tope re­
turned to Cascade and found Mrs.
Tope dressing. “I see you found
something." she remarked. “You’re
fairly licking your chops.”
He told her about the woman’s
footprint, the m ark where a m an’s
shoe had scraped across the ledge,
and he added: “Whitlock and Beal
have skipped. They must have left
mighty early!”
He fell into a
thoughtful silence, and she left him
undisturbed, till presently the break­
fast bell summoned them down to
the Mill.
Bee Dewain, fresh as dawn, greet­
ed them cheerfully. “ Rest well?”
"I never do, the first night in a
strange place,” Mrs. Tope admitted.
"But I will tonight. We’ve decided
to stay on awhile, so Mr. Tope can
try the fishing.”
Mrs. Murrell, entering in time to
hear this last word, said volubly:
“Well, now, Mrs. Tope. 1 call that
sensible. Isaac, he's always want­
ing to move on and move on. Some
people say it's hard on the twins,
no* going to school; but Isaac gives
them their lessons right along.” She
laughed proudly. “Donnie does all
Willie's lessons, if we don’t watch
him. Their handwriting's so much
alike you can't tell the difference."
"They write alike?" Mrs. Tope
echoed in polite indifference. “They
look exactly alike, of course; but I
didn't know twins wrote alike, too.”
"Yes, they do.” Mrs. Murrell in­
sisted. “ I asked a doctor once, and
he told me—”
But Bee interrupted her. People
were apt to interrupt Mrs. Murrell.
"Mr. Tope, Earl Priddy tells me
your friend Adam Bruce came back
last night.”
“So?" Tope echoed. "Why, he told
us in Middleford that he was taking
the midnight train. Must’ve changed
his mind."
Bee laughed. “Adam's always an
uncertain quantity. He must be
sleeping late. I'll have Mrs. Priddy
keep some coffee hot for him !”
After breakfast, Tope and Mrs.
Tope returned to Cascade. Tope
rummaged boots and fishing garb
out of the rumble of the car and put
them on. "We'll make fishing an
excuse," he explained. "We’ll drive
away out of sight, and get to Amasa
Dewain’s without the folks here
knowing.”
She nodded, and presently they
came out to the car. Tope brave in
rubber boots and an old felt hat
adorned with flies stuck in the band
and crown. Earl Priddy, passing by
along the drive, paused to ask in an
interested tone:
"Goin’ ftshin’?"
Tope admitted this. "Git you any
worms?” Tope shook his head. “I’ll
dig you some, fust chance I git,”
Priddy promised.
"Fellow come
through here last summer, hired me
to take him fishing. Englishman, he
was. And a great one for flies!
Man, he could handle ’em, too.”
Tope was always willing to listen.
He had heard, sometimes, surpris­
ingly useful things. "Don’t see
many Englishmen here. I expect,"
he suggested at random.
"Well, som e!" Priddy declared.
“Fellow come here Friday night late
—I guess he w’as English by the way
he talked. Had that kind of a deef
man's voice that they have. I can
tell 'em fur as I can hear ’em. He
had a woman with him! Miss De­
wain wouldn’t have took ’em in, if
she'd been up, case they wa'n't
respectable; but she’d gone to bed,
and I ain't so pa’tic'lar. I put ’em
in Little Bear. They lit out before
I was up in the morning."
Tope nodded indifferently, and he
got into the car. When they ap­
proached Amasa Dewain’s farm ­
house. they saw Adam on the porch.
“Cumberland and the doctor are in­
side." he reported. "Want to go in?"
Tope said: “I'm wondering how
long that man has been dead. Earl
Priddy just told me that a man and
a woman came late Friday night
and stayed in Little Bear, and left
early in the morning."
Bruce's eyes lighted, but before
he could speak, Mat Cumberland
came out of the house; and when he
saw Tope, he drew from his pocket
something wrapped in a handker­
chief.
"You’ll want to see these things,
Inspector.” he suggested. “They
were in the pocket of those overalls.
Ever see a knife like that before?”
The knife was of a peculiar de­
sign. It bore on one side a gradu­
ated scale marked off not only in
inches but in centimeters. Tope
opened the blade to see the m aker’s
name—a Sheffield firm. “ English,”
he remarked thoughtfully; and he
picked up the other article, a thing
like a little metal fan, with leaves
of differing lengths and thicknesses.
“What’s
that?”
Cumberland
asked.
"That’s a gauge to test valve
clearances. Mechanics use them,
on cars and airplanes.”
A car came toward them along
the road from the highway. Bee De-
wain whirled into the yard and
alighted, full of surprised questions.
"What’s happened?” she demand­
ed. “What are you all doing here?”
No one spoke; and she turned to
Adam. "E arl told me you came
back last night. Why?”
Adam said laughingly: “Couldn’t
bear to go away without seeing
you again.”
She colored angrily. “Don’t treat
me like a child! Why doesn't some
one say something?”
Mrs. Tope spoke, “I’ll tell you,
Miss Dewain.” And she made the
m atter briefly clear. She turned
pale, but her head did not droop.
"I see,” she said through stiff
lips. “That’s terrible, isn’t it?” She
caught Adam’s eye. "This was why
you came back?" she guessed. “I
suppose Mr. Tope telephoned you?” ’
"Yes.”
Doctor Medford spoke.
“Know
him, Miss Dewain?”
"No. No, but—”
"But what?”
"He has something on his hair,”
said Bee. "Some sort of musky- '
smelling stuff. I’ve smelled it be­
fore.” And she cried suddenly; "I
rem em ber!”
“Where?” Tope asked sharply.
"Friday night. Or rather, Satur­
day morning,” she answered. “Some
people stayed Friday night in Little
Bear, and left before daylight.
ITO BE CONTINUED)
A Standoff
BALTIMORE —Leonard H. Black­
er filed suit against his parents-ln-
law. asking $73,000 for alienation of
affections of his wife. Mrs. Black­
er filed a similar suit for the same
amount against his parents.
V n a n te rlc a n lH m
EUGENE. ORE. — Vandal» who
broke into the Jewish Synagog here
scratched swastikas over the walls,
defaced the servicemen's honor roll
and tore down the American flag.
T in Need U rg e n t
WASHINGTON -T h e need for tin
can salvage remains urgent despite
the end of the war in Europe, the
War Production board said.
In terio r of Church !»
W recked by Vandals
LOUISVILLE.—Dr. Oscar R. Kel­
ler, pastor of the West End Christian
church, reported to police that van­
dals had caused thousands of dol­
lars damage to the church's interior.
The cross and a picture of Christ
were torn from the walls. Parts of
the organ were shattered, the pulpit
and some pews were overturned,
light fixtures were smashed and
switches torn from the walls.
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