XVII + 

Below Dull Point + 

The telephone bell brought me out of sleep a little before ten the following morning. Mickey Linehan, talking from San Francisco, told me Cotton had arrived at his motherтАЩs house at between seven and seven-thirty Saturday morning. The marshal had slept for five or six hoursтБатАФtelling his mother he had been up all night laying for a burglarтБатАФand had left for home at six that evening. + 

Cotton was coming in from the street when I reached the lobby. He was red-eyed and weary, but still determined. + 

тАЬCatch Whidden?тАЭ I asked. + 

тАЬNo, durn him, but I will. Say, IтАЩm glad you jiggled my arm, even if it did let him get away. IтБатАФwell, sometimes a fellowтАЩs enthusiasm gets the best of his judgment.тАЭ + 

тАЬYeah. We stopped at your house on our way back, to see how youтАЩd made out.тАЭ + 

тАЬI ainтАЩt been home yet,тАЭ he said. тАЬI put in the whole durned night hunting for that fellow. WhereтАЩs Vern and Feeney?тАЭ + 

тАЬPounding their ears. Better get some sleep yourself,тАЭ I suggested. тАЬIтАЩll ring you up if anything happens.тАЭ + 

He set off for home. I went into the caf├й for breakfast. I was half through when Vernon joined me there. He had telegrams from the San Francisco police department and the Marin County sheriffтАЩs office, confirming FitzstephanтАЩs alibis. + 

тАЬI got my report on Cotton,тАЭ I said. тАЬHe reached his motherтАЩs at seven or a little after Saturday morning, and left at six that evening.тАЭ + 

тАЬSeven or a little after?тАЭ Vernon didnтАЩt like that. If the marshal had been in San Francisco at that time he could hardly have been abducting the girl. тАЬAre you sure?тАЭ + 

тАЬNo, but thatтАЩs the best weтАЩve been able to do so far. ThereтАЩs Fitzstephan now.тАЭ Looking through the caf├й door, I had seen the novelistтАЩs lanky back at the hotel desk. тАЬExcuse me a moment.тАЭ + 

I went over and got Fitzstephan, bringing him back to the table with me, and introducing him to Vernon. The district attorney stood up to shake hands with him, but was too busy with thoughts of Cotton to bother now with anything else. Fitzstephan said he had had breakfast before leaving the city, and ordered a cup of coffee. Just then I was called to the phone. + 

CottonтАЩs voice, but excited almost beyond recognition: + 

тАЬFor GodтАЩs sake get Vernon and Feeney and come up here.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhatтАЩs the matter?тАЭ I asked. + 

тАЬHurry! Something awfulтАЩs happened. Hurry!тАЭ he cried, and hung up. + 

I went back to the table and told Vernon about it. He jumped up, upsetting FitzstephanтАЩs coffee. Fitzstephan got up too, but hesitated, looking at me. + 

тАЬCome on,тАЭ I invited him. тАЬMaybe thisтАЩll be one of the things you like.тАЭ + 

FitzstephanтАЩs car was in front of the hotel. The marshalтАЩs house was only seven blocks away. Its front door was open. Vernon knocked on the frame as we went in, but we didnтАЩt wait for an answer. + 

Cotton met us in the hall. His eyes were round and bloodshot in a face as hard-white as marble. He tried to say something, but couldnтАЩt get the words past his tight-set teeth. He gestured towards the door behind him with a fist that was clenched on a piece of brown paper. + 

Through the doorway we saw Mrs.┬аCotton. She was lying on the blue-carpeted floor. She had on a pale blue dress. Her throat was covered with dark bruises. Her lips and tongueтБатАФthe tongue, swollen, hung outтБатАФwere darker than the bruises. Her eyes were wide open, bulging, upturned, and dead. Her hand, when I touched it, was still warm. + 

Cotton, following us into the room, held out the brown paper in his hand. It was an irregularly torn piece of wrapping paper, covered on both sides with writingтБатАФnervously, unevenly, hastily scribbled in pencil. A softer pencil had been used than on FitzstephanтАЩs message, and the paper was a darker brown. + 

I was closest to Cotton. I took the paper, and read it aloud hurriedly, skipping unnecessary words: + 

тАЬWhidden came last nightтБатАКтБатАж said husband after himтБатАКтБатАж frame him for Collinson troubleтБатАКтБатАж I hid him in garretтБатАКтБатАж he said only way to save him was to say he was here Friday nightтБатАКтБатАж said if I didnтАЩt theyтАЩd hang himтБатАКтБатАж when Mr.┬аVernon came Harve said heтАЩd kill me if I didnтАЩtтБатАКтБатАж so I said itтБатАКтБатАж but he wasnтАЩt here that nightтБатАКтБатАж I didnтАЩt know he was guilty thenтБатАКтБатАж told me afterwardsтБатАКтБатАж tried to kidnap her Thursday nightтБатАКтБатАж husband nearly caught himтБатАКтБатАж came in office after Collinson sent telegram and saw itтБатАКтБатАж followed him and killed himтБатАКтБатАж went to San Francisco, drinking whiskeyтБатАКтБатАж decided to go through with kidnapping anywayтБатАКтБатАж phoned man who knew her to try to learn who he could get money fromтБатАКтБатАж too drunk to talk goodтБатАКтБатАж wrote letter and came backтБатАКтБатАж met her on roadтБатАКтБатАж took her to old bootleggersтАЩ hiding place somewhere below Dull PointтБатАКтБатАж goes in boatтБатАКтБатАж afraid heтАЩll kill meтБатАКтБатАж locked in garretтБатАКтБатАж writing while heтАЩs down getting foodтБатАКтБатАж murdererтБатАКтБатАж I wonтАЩt help himтБатАКтБатАж Daisy Cotton.тАЭ + 

The sheriff and Rolly had arrived while I was reading it. FeeneyтАЩs face was as white and set as CottonтАЩs. + 

Vernon bared his teeth at the marshal, snarling: + 

тАЬYou wrote that.тАЭ + 

Feeney grabbed it from my hands, looked at it, shook his head, and said hoarsely: + 

тАЬNo, thatтАЩs her writing, all right.тАЭ + 

Cotton was babbling: + 

тАЬNo, before God, I didnтАЩt. I planted that stuff on him, IтАЩll admit that, but that was all. I come home and find her like this. I swear to God!тАЭ + 

тАЬWhere were you Friday night?тАЭ Vernon asked. + 

тАЬHere, watching the house. I thoughtтБатАФI thought he mightтБатАФBut he wasnтАЩt here that night. I watched till daybreak and then went to the city. I didnтАЩtтБатАФтАЭ + 

The sheriffтАЩs bellow drowned the rest of CottonтАЩs words. The sheriff was waving the dead womanтАЩs letter. He bellowed: + 

тАЬBelow Dull Point! What are we waiting for?тАЭ + 

He plunged out of the house, the rest of us following. Cotton and Rolly rode to the waterfront in the deputyтАЩs car. Vernon, the sheriff, and I rode with Fitzstephan. The sheriff cried throughout the short trip, tears splashing on the automatic pistol he held in his lap. + 

At the waterfront we changed from the cars to a green and white motor boat run by a pink-cheeked, towheaded youngster called Tim. Tim said he didnтАЩt know anything about any bootleggersтАЩ hiding-places below Dull Point, but if there was one there he could find it. In his hands the boat produced a lot of speed, but not enough for Feeney and Cotton. They stood together in the bow, guns in their fists, dividing their time between straining forward and yelling back for more speed. + 

Half an hour from the dock, we rounded a blunt promontory that the others called Dull Point, and Tim cut down our speed, putting the boat in closer to the rocks that jumped up high and sharp at the waterтАЩs edge. We were now all eyesтБатАФeyes that soon ached from staring under the noon sun but kept on staring. Twice we saw clefts in the rock-walled shore, pushed hopefully in to them, saw that they were blind, leading nowhere, opening into no hiding-places. + 

The third cleft was even more hopeless-looking at first sight, but, now that Dull Point was some distance behind us, we couldnтАЩt pass up anything. We slid in to the cleft, got close enough to decide that it was another blind one, gave it up, and told Tim to go on. We were washed another couple of feet nearer before the towheaded boy could bring the boat around. + 

Cotton, in the bow, bent forward from the waist and yelled: + 

тАЬHere it is.тАЭ + 

He pointed his gun at one side of the cleft. Tim let the boat drift in another foot or so. Craning our necks, we could see that what we had taken for the shoreline on that side was actually a high, thin, sawtoothed ledge of rock, separated from the cliff at this end by twenty feet of water. + 

тАЬPut her in,тАЭ Feeney ordered. + 

Tim frowned at the water, hesitated, said: тАЬShe canтАЩt make it.тАЭ + 

The boat backed him up by shuddering suddenly under our feet, with an unpleasant rasping noise. + 

тАЬThat be damned!тАЭ the sheriff bawled. тАЬPut her in.тАЭ + 

Tim took a look at the sheriffтАЩs wild face, and put her in. + 

The boat shuddered under our feet again, more violently, and now there was a tearing sound in with the rasping, but we went through the opening and turned down behind the sawtooth ledge. + 

We were in a v-shaped pocket, twenty feet wide where we had come in, say eighty feet long, high-walled, inaccessible by land, accessible by sea only as we had come. The water that floated usтБатАФand was coming in rapidly to sink usтБатАФran a third of the way down the pocket. White sand paved the other two thirds. A small boat was resting its nose on the edge of the sand. It was empty. Nobody was in sight. There didnтАЩt seem to be anywhere for anybody to hide. There were footprints, large and small, in the sand, empty tin cans, and the remains of a fire. + 

тАЬHarveтАЩs,тАЭ Rolly said, nodding at the boat. + 

Our boat grounded beside it. We jumped, splashed, ashoreтБатАФCotton ahead, the others spread out behind him. + 

As suddenly as if he had sprung out of the air, Harvey Whidden appeared in the far end of the v, standing in the sand, a rifle in his hands. Anger and utter astonishment were mixed in his heavy face, and in his voice when he yelled: + 

тАЬYou Goddamned double-crossingтБатАФтАЭ The noise his rifle made blotted out the rest of his words. + 

Cotton had thrown himself down sideways. The rifle bullet missed him by inches, sang between Fitzstephan and me, nicking his hat-brim, and splattered on the rocks behind. Four of our guns went off together, some more than once. + 

Whidden went over backwards, his feet flying in the air. He was dead when we got to himтБатАФthree bullets in his chest, one in his head. + 

We found Gabrielle Collinson cowering back in the corner of a narrow-mouthed hole in the rock wallтБатАФa long triangular cave whose mouth had been hidden from our view by the slant at which it was set. There were blankets in there, spread over a pile of dried seaweed, some canned goods, a lantern, and another rifle. + 

The girlтАЩs small face was flushed and feverish, and her voice was hoarse: she had a cold in her chest. She was too frightened at first to tell us anything coherent, and apparently recognized neither Fitzstephan nor me. + 

The boat we had come in was out of commission. WhiddenтАЩs boat couldnтАЩt be trusted to carry more than three with safety through the surf. Tim and Rolly set off for Quesada in it, to get us a larger vessel. It was an hour-and-a-halfтАЩs round trip. While they were gone we worked on the girl, soothing her, assuring her that she was among friends, that there was nothing to be afraid of now. Her eyes gradually became less scary, her breathing easier, and her nails less tightly pressed into her palms. At the end of an hour she was answering our questions. + 

She said she knew nothing of WhiddenтАЩs attempt to kidnap her Thursday night, nothing of the telegram Eric had sent me. She sat up all Friday night waiting for him to return from his walk, and at daylight, frantic at his failure to return, had gone to look for him. She found himтБатАФas I had. Then she went back to the house and tried to commit suicideтБатАФto put an end to the curse by shooting herself. + 

тАЬI tried twice,тАЭ she whispered; тАЬbut I couldnтАЩt. I couldnтАЩt. I was too much a coward. I couldnтАЩt keep the pistol pointing at myself while I did it. I tried the first time to shoot myself in the temple, and then in the breast; but I hadnтАЩt the courage. Each time I jerked it away just before I fired. And after the second time I couldnтАЩt even get courage to try again.тАЭ + 

She changed her clothes thenтБатАФevening clothes, now muddy and torn from her searchтБатАФand drove away from the house. She didnтАЩt say where she had intended going. She didnтАЩt seem to know. Probably she hadnтАЩt had any destinationтБатАФwas simply going away from the place where the curse had settled on her husband. + 

She hadnтАЩt driven far when she had seen a machine coming towards her, driven by the man who had brought her here. He had turned his car across the road in front of her, blocking the road. Trying to avoid hitting his car, she had run into a treeтБатАФand hadnтАЩt known anything else until she had awakened in the cave. She had been here since then. The man had left her here alone most of the time. She had neither strength nor courage to escape by swimming, and there was no other way out. + 

The man had told her nothing, had asked her nothing, had addressed no words to her except to say, тАЬHereтАЩs some food,тАЭ or, тАЬTill I bring you some water, youтАЩll have to get along on canned tomatoes when youтАЩre thirsty,тАЭ or other things of that sort. She never remembered having seen him before. She didnтАЩt know his name. He was the only man she had seen since her husbandтАЩs death. + 

тАЬWhat did he call you?тАЭ I asked. тАЬMrs.┬аCarter? Or Mrs.┬аCollinson?тАЭ + 

She frowned thoughtfully, then shook her head, saying: + 

тАЬI donтАЩt think he ever called me by name. He never spoke unless he had to, and he wasnтАЩt here very much. I was usually alone.тАЭ + 

тАЬHow long had he been here this time?тАЭ + 

тАЬSince before daylight. The noise of his boat woke me up.тАЭ + 

тАЬSure? This is important. Are you sure heтАЩs been here since daylight?тАЭ + 

тАЬYes.тАЭ + 

I was sitting on my heels in front of her. Cotton was standing on my left, beside the sheriff. I looked up at the marshal and said: + 

тАЬThat puts it up to you, Cotton. Your wife was still warm when we saw herтБатАФafter eleven.тАЭ + 

He goggled at me, stammering: тАЬWh-whatтАЩs that you say?тАЭ + 

On the other side of me I heard VernonтАЩs teeth click together sharply. + 

I said: + 

тАЬYour wife was afraid Whidden would kill her, and wrote that statement. But he didnтАЩt kill her. HeтАЩs been here since daylight. You found the statement, learned from it that they had been too friendly. Well, what did you do then?тАЭ + 

тАЬThatтАЩs a lie,тАЭ he cried. тАЬThere ainтАЩt a word of truth in it. She was dead there when I found her. I neverтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬYou killed her,тАЭ Vernon barked at him over my head. тАЬYou choked her, counting on that statement to throw suspicion on Whidden.тАЭ + 

тАЬThatтАЩs a lie,тАЭ the marshal cried again, and made the mistake of trying to get his gun out. + 

Feeney slugged him, dropping him, and had handcuffs on his wrists before he could get up again. + 