Evidence | Page 3

The first witness was the cook, who had discovered the body. He had
come back from town, entered the house and discovered his employer
dead on the floor of the hall.
He had been shot through the heart. A rider, whom the cook had hastily
summoned, corroborated his testimony and added that the body was
cold when he was called, proving that death had occurred some time
before.
"Th' evidence shows," said the coroner casually, "that Abe was shot
when there wasn't nobody else in th' house but him an' th' murderer. Th'
cashier of th' Farmers and Ranchers Bank ain't heah, but he has give me
th' information that Abe had over four thousan' dollars on him when he
was killed.
"That's gone. Evidently he was shot fo' his money. It's part of th' duties
of a coroner's jury t' uncover any evidence that will help in solvin' th'
problem of who th' murderer might be. Miste' Joe Harkness will take th'
stand."
There was a movement of interest in the small crowd packed into the
one room. I had managed to get beside Jimmy Calton, and his face
became extraordinarily mild and gentle. It hinted at some expectation
of excitement, if I knew Jimmy. Every one had heard Harkness's story
before, so it was simply a recapitulation.
"I ain't got a thing t' say," announced Harkness bluntly, "'cept that I
seen Harry Temple come out o' this here house 'bout three o'clock, jus'
after Abe Martin was shot.
"I was havin' trouble with my sparkplugs down the road a ways, when I
seen Harry. He come out o' th' kitchen door, looked all aroun' as ef he
was lookin' t' see ef anybody seen him, an' then he went down to'd the
stables. He went inside theah, then he come out o' that an' went over to

th' quarters an' got a drink at th' pump by th' do'. I was wonderin' what
he was doin', but it looks t' me like he was makin' sho' theh wasn't
nobody aroun' that could 'a' tol' that he'd been aroun'.
"An' theh's one mo' thing. When he come out o' th' house--he come out
th' kitchen do'--he was puttin' somethin' in his breas' pocket."
I glanced at Jimmy Calton. He was looking at Harkness with a gentle,
placid smile. His face did not change when Harry Temple stood up,
pale beneath his tan.
"Eve'ything Harkness says is so," said Harry Temple determinedly.
"Eve'y single word, only I didn't shoot ol' Abe. I come out heah t' see
him 'bout sellin' him some yearlin's. He wasn't heah, so I went in th'
kitchen t' see ef I couldn' leave word with th' cook.
"Th' cook was missin', too, but I thought I heard somebody movin'
aroun' somewhere, an' I went jus' where Harkness said, an' jus' in th'
order he said. He must've seen me first when I come out o' the kitchen.
When I couldn't find nobody, I cranked up an' lef."
Harkness stood up.
"I hate t' contradict Harry," he said sharply, "but he's made a mistake.
He didn' crank up an' leave. He was drivin' somebody else's car, an' it
had a self-starter on it."
Harry Temple flushed slightly. "That's a fac'," he acknowledged. "I'd
forgotten that. I was drivin' a' car they lent me at th' garage. I'd lef my
own theah t' have some repairs made."
"Of co'se," said Harkness sarcastically, "nobody suspec's that you was
drivin' a strange car, with strange tires, so they couldn't prove nothin'
on you by th' tracks." Jimmy put a question in a gentle voice.
"There's another question," he said softly. "What was Harry puttin' in
his pocket when Harkness saw him comin' out o' th' house?"

"I don't remember puttin' anything in my pocket," said Temple,
beginning to be worried. "It was prob'ly my handkerchief."
There was a moment's silence. One or two of the men in the room
stirred uneasily.
Jimmy Calton smiled sweetly to himself.
"Misteh Coroner," he said slowly, "may I make an obs'vation or so? It
looks like somebody ought t' point out two or three fac's."
"Go ahead, Jimmy," said the coroner. It seemed to be bothering him
that so much seemed to point to the guilt of Harry Temple. Temple did
seem to be quite a decent sort, and the coroner evidently hated to bring
out so much to his discredit without anything to counteract the
impression thus made.
Knowing Jimmy, he knew Jimmy would not interfere unless he thought
things were going the wrong way, and that meant in this case that he
had something to say in Temple's favor.
"Misteh Coroner an' gentlemen," said Jimmy formally, "it don't seem
hardly fair t' bring out all this heah evidence against a man without any