XVI + 

The Night Hunt + 

I caught the 5:25 train south. It put me in Poston, a dusty town twice QuesadaтАЩs size, at 7:30; and a rattle-trap stage, in which I was the only passenger, got me to my destination half an hour later. Rain was beginning to fall as I was leaving the stage across the street from the hotel. + 

Jack Santos, a San Francisco reporter, came out of the telegraph office and said: тАЬHello. Anything new?тАЭ + 

тАЬMaybe, but IтАЩll have to give it to Vernon first.тАЭ + 

тАЬHeтАЩs in his room in the hotel, or was ten minutes ago. You mean the ransom letter that somebody got?тАЭ + 

тАЬYeah. HeтАЩs already given it out?тАЭ + 

тАЬCotton started to, but Vernon headed him off, told us to let it alone.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhy?тАЭ + 

тАЬNo reason at all except that it was Cotton giving it to us.тАЭ Santos pulled the corners of his thin lips down. тАЬItтАЩs been turned into a contest between Vernon, Feeney, and Cotton to see which can get his name and picture printed most.тАЭ + 

тАЬThey been doing anything except that?тАЭ + 

тАЬHow can they?тАЭ he asked disgustedly. тАЬThey spend ten hours a day trying to make the front page, ten more trying to keep the others from making it, and theyтАЩve got to sleep some time.тАЭ + 

In the hotel I gave тАЬnothing newтАЭ to some more reporters, registered again, left my bag in my room, and went down the hall to 204. Vernon opened the door when I had knocked. He was alone, and apparently had been reading the newspapers that made a pink, green, and white pile on the bed. The room was blue-gray with cigar smoke. + 

This district attorney was a thirty-year-old dark-eyed man who carried his chin up and out so that it was more prominent than nature had intended, bared all his teeth when he talked, and was very conscious of being a go-getter. He shook my hand briskly and said: + 

тАЬIтАЩm glad youтАЩre back. Come in. Sit down. Are there any new developments?тАЭ + 

тАЬCotton pass you the dope I gave him?тАЭ + 

тАЬYes.тАЭ Vernon posed in front of me, hands in pockets, feet far apart. тАЬWhat importance do you attach to it?тАЭ + 

тАЬI advised Andrews to get the money ready. He wonтАЩt. The Collinsons will.тАЭ + 

тАЬThey will,тАЭ he said, as if confirming a guess I had made. тАЬAnd?тАЭ He held his lips back so that his teeth remained exposed. + 

тАЬHereтАЩs the letter.тАЭ I gave it to him. тАЬFitzstephan will be down in the morning.тАЭ + 

He nodded emphatically, carried the letter closer to the light, and examined it and its envelope minutely. When he had finished he tossed it contemptuously to the table. + 

тАЬObviously a fraud,тАЭ he said. тАЬNow what, exactly, is this FitzstephanтАЩsтБатАФis that the name?тБатАФstory?тАЭ + 

I told him, word for word. When that was done, he clicked his teeth together, turned to the telephone, and told someone to tell Feeney that heтБатАФMr.┬аVernon, district attorneyтБатАФwished to see him immediately. Ten minutes later the sheriff came in wiping rain off his big brown mustache. + 

Vernon jerked a thumb at me and ordered: тАЬTell him.тАЭ + 

I repeated what Fitzstephan had told me. The sheriff listened with an attentiveness that turned his florid face purple and had him panting. As the last word left my mouth, the district attorney snapped his fingers and said: + 

тАЬVery well. He claims there were people in his apartment when the phone call came. Make a note of their names. He claims to have been in Ross over the weekend, with theтБатАФwho were they? Ralph Coleman? Very well. Sheriff, see that those things are checked up. WeтАЩll learn how much truth there is to it.тАЭ + 

I gave the sheriff the names and addresses Fitzstephan had given me. Feeney wrote them on the back of a laundry list and puffed out to get the countyтАЩs crime-detecting machinery going on them. + 

Vernon hadnтАЩt anything to tell me. I left him to his newspapers and went downstairs. The effeminate night clerk beckoned me over to the desk and said: + 

тАЬMr.┬аSantos asked me to tell you that services are being held in his room tonight.тАЭ + 

I thanked the clerk and went up to SantosтАЩ room. He, three other newshounds, and a photographer were there. The game was stud. I was sixteen dollars ahead at twelve-thirty, when I was called to the phone to listen to the district attorneyтАЩs aggressive voice: + 

тАЬWill you come to my room immediately?тАЭ + 

тАЬYeah.тАЭ I gathered up my hat and coat, telling Santos: тАЬCash me in. Important call. I always have one when I get a little ahead of the game.тАЭ + 

тАЬVernon?тАЭ he asked as he counted my chips. + 

тАЬYeah.тАЭ + 

тАЬIt canтАЩt be much,тАЭ he sneered, тАЬor heтАЩdтАЩve sent for Red too,тАЭ nodding at the photographer, тАЬso tomorrowтАЩs readers could see him holding it in his hand.тАЭ + 

Cotton, Feeney, and Rolly were with the district attorney. CottonтБатАФa medium-sized man with a round dull face dimpled in the chinтБатАФwas dressed in black rubber boots, slicker, and hat that were wet and muddy. He stood in the middle of the room, his round eyes looking quite proud of their owner. Feeney, straddling a chair, was playing with his mustache; and his florid face was sulky. Rolly, standing beside him, rolling a cigarette, looked vaguely amiable as usual. + 

Vernon closed the door behind me and said irritably: + 

тАЬCotton thinks heтАЩs discovered something. He thinksтБатАФтАЭ + 

Cotton came forward, chest first, interrupting: + 

тАЬI donтАЩt think nothing. I know durned wellтБатАФтАЭ + 

Vernon snapped his fingers between the marshal and me, saying, just as snappishly: + 

тАЬNever mind that. WeтАЩll go out there and see.тАЭ + 

I stopped at my room for raincoat, gun, and flashlight. We went downstairs and climbed into a muddy car. Cotton drove. Vernon sat beside him. The rest of us sat in back. Rain beat on top and curtains, trickling in through cracks. + 

тАЬA hell of a night to be chasing pipe dreams,тАЭ the sheriff grumbled, trying to dodge a leak. + 

тАЬDickтАЩd do a sight better minding his own business,тАЭ Rolly agreed. тАЬWhatтАЩs he got to do with what donтАЩt happen in Quesada?тАЭ + 

тАЬIf heтАЩd take more care of what does happen there, he wouldnтАЩt have to worry about whatтАЩs down the shore,тАЭ Feeney said, and he and his deputy sniggered together. + 

Whatever point there was to this conversation was over my head. I asked: + 

тАЬWhatтАЩs he up to?тАЭ + 

тАЬNothing,тАЭ the sheriff told me. тАЬYouтАЩll see that itтАЩs nothing, and, by God! IтАЩm going to give him a piece of my mind. I donтАЩt know whatтАЩs the matter with Vernon, paying any attention to him at all.тАЭ + 

That didnтАЩt mean anything to me. I peeped out between curtains. Rain and darkness shut out the scenery, but I had an idea that we were headed for some point on the East road. It was a rotten rideтБатАФwet, noisy, and bumpy. It ended in as dark, wet, and muddy a spot as any we had gone through. + 

Cotton switched off the lights and got out, the rest of us following, slipping and slopping in wet clay up to our ankles. + 

тАЬThis is too damned much,тАЭ the sheriff complained. + 

Vernon started to say something, but the marshal was walking away, down the road. We plodded after him, keeping together more by the sound of our feet squashing in the mud than by sight. It was black. + 

Presently we left the road, struggled over a high wire fence, and went on with less mud under our feet, but slippery grass. We climbed a hill. Wind blew rain down it into our faces. The sheriff was panting. I was sweating. We reached the top of the hill and went down its other side, with the rustle of seawater on rocks ahead of us. Boulders began crowding grass out of our path as the descent got steeper. Once Cotton slipped to his knees, tripping Vernon, who saved himself by grabbing me. The sheriffтАЩs panting sounded like groaning now. We turned to the left, going along in single file, the surf close beside us. We turned to the left again, climbed a slope, and halted under a low shed without wallsтБатАФa wooden roof propped on a dozen posts. Ahead of us a larger building made a black blot against the almost black sky. + 

Cotton whispered: тАЬWait till I see if his carтАЩs here.тАЭ + 

He went away. The sheriff blew out his breath and grunted: тАЬDamn such a expedition!тАЭ Rolly sighed. + 

The marshal returned jubilant. + 

тАЬIt ainтАЩt there, so he ainтАЩt here,тАЭ he said. тАЬCome on, itтАЩll get us out of the wet anyways.тАЭ + 

We followed him up a muddy path between bushes to the black house, up on its back porch. We stood there while he got a window open, climbed through, and unlocked the door. Our flashlights, used for the first time now, showed us a small neat kitchen. We went in, muddying the floor. + 

Cotton was the only member of the party who showed any enthusiasm. His face, from hat-brim to dimpled chin, was the face of a master of ceremonies who is about to spring what he is sure will be a delightful surprise. Vernon regarded him skeptically, Feeney disgustedly, Rolly indifferently, and IтБатАФwho didnтАЩt know what we were there forтБатАФno doubt curiously. + 

It developed that we were there to search the house. We did it, or at least Cotton did it while the rest of us pretended to help him. It was a small house. There was only one room on the ground-floor besides the kitchen, and only oneтБатАФan unfinished bedroomтБатАФabove. A grocerтАЩs bill and a tax-receipt in a table-drawer told me whose house it wasтБатАФHarvey WhiddenтАЩs. He was the big-boned deliberate man who had seen the stranger in the Chrysler with Gabrielle Collinson. + 

We finished the ground-floor with a blank score, and went upstairs. There, after ten minutes of poking around, we found something. Rolly pulled it out from between bed-slats and mattress. It was a small flat bundle wrapped in a white linen towel. + 

Cotton dropped the mattress, which he had been holding up for the deputy to look under, and joined us as we crowded around RollyтАЩs package. Vernon took it from the deputy sheriff and unrolled it on the bed. Inside the towel were a package of hairpins, a lace-edged white handkerchief, a silver hairbrush and comb engraved G. D. L., and a pair of black kid gloves, small and feminine. + 

I was more surprised than anyone else could have been. + 

тАЬG. D. L.,тАЭ I said, to be saying something, тАЬcould be Gabrielle Something LeggettтБатАФMrs.┬аCollinsonтАЩs name before she was married.тАЭ + 

Cotton said triumphantly: тАЬYouтАЩre durned right it could.тАЭ + 

A heavy voice said from the doorway: + 

тАЬHave you got a search-warrant? What the hell are you doing here if you havenтАЩt? ItтАЩs burglary, and you know it.тАЭ + 

Harvey Whidden was there. His big body, in a yellow slicker, filled the doorway. His heavy-featured face was dark and angry. + 

Vernon began: тАЬWhidden, IтБатАФтАЭ + 

The marshal screamed, тАЬItтАЩs him!тАЭ and pulled a gun from under his coat. + 

I pushed his arm as he fired at the man in the doorway. The bullet hit the wall. + 

WhiddenтАЩs face was now more astonished than angry. He jumped back through the doorway and ran downstairs. Cotton, upset by my push, straightened himself up, cursed me, and ran out after Whidden. Vernon, Feeney, and Rolly stood staring after them. + 

I said: тАЬThis is good clean sport, but it makes no sense to me. WhatтАЩs it all about?тАЭ + 

Nobody told me. I said: тАЬThis comb and brush were on Mrs.┬аCollinsonтАЩs table when we searched the house, Rolly.тАЭ + 

The deputy sheriff nodded uncertainly, still staring at the door. No noise came through it now. I asked: + 

тАЬWould there be any special reason for Cotton framing Whidden?тАЭ + 

The sheriff said: тАЬThey ainтАЩt good friends.тАЭ (I had noticed that.) тАЬWhat do you think, Vern?тАЭ + 

The district attorney took his gaze from the door, rolled the things in their towel again, and stuffed the bundle in his pocket. тАЬCome on,тАЭ he snapped, and strode downstairs. + 

The front door was open. We saw nothing, heard nothing, of Cotton and Whidden. A FordтБатАФWhiddenтАЩsтБатАФstood at the front gate soaking up rain. We got into it. Vernon took the wheel, and drove to the house in the cove. We hammered at its door until it was opened by an old man in gray underwear, put there as caretaker by the sheriff. + 

The old man told us that Cotton had been there at eight oтАЩclock that night, just, he said, to look around again. He, the caretaker, didnтАЩt know no reason why the marshal had to be watched, so he hadnтАЩt bothered him, letting him do what he wanted, and, so far as he knew, the marshal hadnтАЩt taken any of the CollinsonsтАЩ property, though of course he might of. + 

Vernon and Feeney gave the old man hell, and we went back to Quesada. + 

Rolly was with me on the back seat. I asked him: + 

тАЬWho is this Whidden? Why should Cotton pick on him?тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, for one thing, HarveтАЩs got kind of a bad name, from being mixed up in the rum-running that used to go on here, and from being in trouble now and then.тАЭ + 

тАЬYeah? And for another thing?тАЭ + 

The deputy sheriff frowned, hesitating, hunting for words; and before he had found them we were stopping in front of a vine-covered cottage on a dark street corner. The district attorney led the way to its front porch and rang the bell. + 

After a little while a womanтАЩs voice sounded overhead: + 

тАЬWhoтАЩs there?тАЭ + 

We had to retreat to the steps to see herтБатАФMrs.┬аCotton at a second-story window. + 

тАЬDick got home yet?тАЭ Vernon asked. + 

тАЬNo, Mr.┬аVernon, he hasnтАЩt. I was getting worried. Wait a minute; IтАЩll come down.тАЭ + 

тАЬDonтАЩt bother,тАЭ he said. тАЬWe wonтАЩt wait. IтАЩll see him in the morning.тАЭ + 

тАЬNo. Wait,тАЭ she said urgently and vanished from the window. + 

A moment later she opened the front door. Her blue eyes were dark and excited. She had on a rose bathrobe. + 

тАЬYou neednтАЩt have bothered,тАЭ the district attorney said. тАЬThere was nothing special. We got separated from him a little while ago, and just wanted to know if heтАЩd got back yet. HeтАЩs all right.тАЭ + 

тАЬWasтБатАФ?тАЭ Her hands worked folds of her bathrobe over her thin breasts. тАЬWas he afterтБатАФafter HarveyтБатАФHarvey Whidden?тАЭ + 

Vernon didnтАЩt look at her when he said, тАЬYes;тАЭ and he said it without showing his teeth. Feeney and Rolly looked as uncomfortable as Vernon. + 

Mrs.┬аCottonтАЩs face turned pink. Her lower lip trembled, blurring her words. + 

тАЬDonтАЩt believe him, Mr.┬аVernon. DonтАЩt believe a word he tells you. Harve didnтАЩt have anything to do with those Collinsons, with neither one of them. DonтАЩt let Dick tell you he did. He didnтАЩt.тАЭ + 

Vernon looked at his feet and didnтАЩt say anything. Rolly and Feeney were looking intently out through the open doorтБатАФwe were standing just inside itтБатАФat the rain. Nobody seemed to have any intention of speaking. + 

I asked, тАЬNo?тАЭ putting more doubt in my voice than I actually felt. + 

тАЬNo, he didnтАЩt,тАЭ she cried, turning her face to me. тАЬHe couldnтАЩt. He couldnтАЩt have had anything to do with it.тАЭ The pink went out of her face, leaving it white and desperate. тАЬHeтБатАФhe was here that nightтБатАФall nightтБатАФfrom before seven until daylight.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhere was your husband?тАЭ + 

тАЬUp in the city, at his motherтАЩs.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhatтАЩs her address?тАЭ + 

She gave it to me, a Noe Street number. + 

тАЬDid anybodyтБатАФ?тАЭ + 

тАЬAw, come on,тАЭ the sheriff protested, still staring at the rain. тАЬAinтАЩt that enough?тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аCotton turned from me to the district attorney again, taking hold of one of his arms. + 

тАЬDonтАЩt tell it on me, please, Mr.┬аVernon,тАЭ she begged. тАЬI donтАЩt know what IтАЩd do if it came out. But I had to tell you. I couldnтАЩt let him put it on Harve. Please, you wonтАЩt tell anybody else?тАЭ + 

The district attorney swore that under no circumstances would he, or any of us, repeat what she had told us to anybody; and the sheriff and his deputy agreed with vigorous red-faced nods. + 

But when we were in the Ford again, away from her, they forgot their embarrassment and became manhunters again. Within ten minutes they had decided that Cotton, instead of going to San Francisco to his motherтАЩs Friday night, had remained in Quesada, had killed Collinson, had gone to the city to phone Fitzstephan and mail the letter, and then had returned to Quesada in time to kidnap Mrs.┬аCollinson; planning from the first to plant the evidence against Whidden, with whom he had long been on bad terms, having always suspected what everybody else knewтБатАФthat Whidden was Mrs.┬аCottonтАЩs lover. + 

The sheriffтБатАФhe whose chivalry had kept me from more thoroughly questioning the woman a few minutes agoтБатАФnow laughed his belly up and down. + 

тАЬThatтАЩs rich,тАЭ he gurgled. тАЬHim out framing Harve, and Harve getting himself an alibi in his bed. DickтАЩs face ought to be a picture for Puck when we spring that on him. LetтАЩs find him tonight.тАЭ + 

тАЬBetter wait,тАЭ I advised. тАЬIt wonтАЩt hurt to check up his San Francisco trip before we put it to him. All weтАЩve got on him so far is that he tried to frame Whidden. If heтАЩs the murderer and kidnapper he seems to have gone to a lot of unnecessary foolishness.тАЭ + 

Feeney scowled at me and defended their theory: + 

тАЬMaybe he was more interested in framing Harve than anything else.тАЭ + 

тАЬMaybe,тАЭ I said; тАЬbut it wonтАЩt hurt to give him a little more rope and see what he does with it.тАЭ + 

Feeney was against that. He wanted to grab the marshal pronto; but Vernon reluctantly backed me up. We dropped Rolly at his house and returned to the hotel. + 

In my room, I put in a phone-call for the agency in San Francisco. While I was waiting for the connection knuckles tapped my door. I opened it and let in Jack Santos, pajamaed, bathrobed, and slippered. + 

тАЬHave a nice ride?тАЭ he asked, yawning. + 

тАЬSwell.тАЭ + 

тАЬAnything break?тАЭ + 

тАЬNot for publication, butтБатАФunder the hatтБатАФthe new angle is that our marshal is trying to hang the job on his wifeтАЩs boyfriendтБатАФwith homemade evidence. The other big officials think Cotton turned the trick himself.тАЭ + 

тАЬThat ought to get them all on the front page.тАЭ Santos sat on the foot of my bed and lit a cigarette. тАЬEver happen to hear that Feeney was CottonтАЩs rival for the telegraphing hand of the present Mrs.┬аCotton, until she picked the marshalтБатАФthe triumph of dimples over mustachios?тАЭ + 

тАЬNo,тАЭ I admitted. тАЬWhat of it?тАЭ + 

тАЬHow do I know? I just happened to pick it up. A fellow in the garage told me.тАЭ + 

тАЬHow long ago?тАЭ + 

тАЬThat they were rival suitors? Less than a couple of years.тАЭ + 

I got my San Francisco call, and told FieldтБатАФthe agency night-manтБатАФto have somebody check up the marshalтАЩs Noe Street visit. Santos yawned and went out while I was talking. I went to bed when I had finished. + 