ht."

Kirby did not smile. He did not explain that he was the man. But he
resolved to find out whether two men had notified the police of his
uncle's death. If not, Olson was lying in at least one detail. He had
a suspicion that the man had not given him the whole truth. He was
telling part of it, but he was holding back something. A sly and
furtive look in his eyes helped to build this impression in the mind of
the man who listened to the story.

"You didn't actually see Hull fire the shot that killed my uncle, then?"

Olson hesitated, a fraction of a second. "No."

"You don't know that it was he that fired it."

"No, it might 'a' been the woman. But it ain't likely he handed her
the gun to do it with, is it? For that matter I don't know that the
crack over the head didn't kill Cunningham. Maybe it did."

"That's all you saw?"

Again the almost imperceptible hesitation. Then, "That's all," the Dry
Valley rancher said sullenly.

"What kind of a gun was it?" Kirby asked.

"Too far away. Couldn't be sure."

"Big as a.45?"

"Couldn't 'a' been. The evidence was that it was done with an
automatic."

"The evidence was that the wound in the head was probably made by a
bullet from an automatic. We're talkin' now about the blow _on_ the
head."

"What are you drivin' at?" the rancher asked, scowling. "He wouldn't
bring two different kinds of gun with him. That's a cinch."

"No; but we haven't proved yet he fired the shot you heard later. The
chances are all that he did, but legally we have no evidence that
somebody else didn't do it."

"I guess a jury would be satisfied he fired it all right."

"Probably. It looks bad for Hull. Don't you think you ought to go to
the police with your story? Then we can have Hull arrested. They'll
give him the third degree. My opinion is he'll break down under it and
confess."

Olson consented with obvious reluctance, but he made a condition
precedent to his acceptance. "Le' 's see Hull first, just you 'n' me.
I ain't strong for the police. We'll go to them when we've got an open
an' shut case."

Kirby considered. This story didn't wholly fit the facts as he knew
them. For instance, there was no explanation in it of how the room
where Cunningham was found murdered had become saturated with the odor
of chloroform. Nor was it in character that Hull should risk firing a
gun, the sound of which might bring detection on him, while his victim
lay helple