american tragedy

Chapter 103 (1)
Chapter 35 (1)
Accompanied by Alden and some of the officers working on the case, he was pondering the motives and purposes of this villainous act as he walked toward his office.He speculated in this regard from his experience of being hungry for the opposite sex when he was young. He thought that Roberta's beauty and loveliness, as well as the poverty of life and her extremely strict moral and religious upbringing just formed a vivid image.But he always believed: probably the grown man or the young man, who had seduced her, got tired of her, and finally chose this way, in order to get rid of her, lured her to travel to the lake and get married.Immediately he aroused immense hatred for the man.These despicable rich people! These lazy rich people! These cruel, vicious rich people! And this Clyde Griffith is their descendant, so to speak, their representative.If only someone could arrest him.

It suddenly occurred to him that the girl was living together as an unmarried woman, so she might be pregnant.With such doubts, he not only immediately germinated sexual curiosity about life before pregnancy and courtship, but was also eager to confirm his suspicions.It immediately occurred to him to find a doctor to perform an autopsy, if not here, in Utiga or Albany, and to tell Height what the suspicion was about that and the scars on her face. Things are also clear.

That suitcase and its contents are what he wants to study the most right now. Fortunately, he found another very important piece of evidence from here.It turned out that, except for the dresses, hats, and linen shirts that Roberta had made, and a pair of red silk garters bought at Bronstein's in Lycurgus, which were still in the same box, there was And that toiletry set that Clyde had given her just before Christmas.There was also a little snow-white card on it, tied to the box with a length of gray ribbon, on which Clyde wrote: "Roberta from Clyde—Merry Christmas." No surname, though.The handwriting was sloppy, for at the time of writing Clyde was anxious to be elsewhere and unwilling to be with her.

It immediately occurred to Mason how strange it was that the murderer hadn't known that the box of toiletries was in this suitcase, along with the cards.However, even so, and he did not destroy the card, could this Clyde be the murderer? Would a murderer notice such a card? And there was his handwriting on it.This is not a conspirator or a murderer! He thought again: It would be better to keep this card away until the day of the trial, and then pull it out suddenly, assuming that the prisoner denies any close connection with the girl, or denies sending it. Words of her toiletry.He picked up the card and put it in his pocket, but first it was looked at carefully by Earl Newcomb.He looked at it and commented: "I'm not sure, Mr. Mason. However, it seems to me to be very similar to the handwriting on the Great Burton register." Mason immediately replied: "Well, it won't be long before the The facts can be clarified."

Then he beckoned Hayter to follow him to a nearby room, to be alone with him, where no one else could see or hear him.He said, "Ah, Fred, you know, exactly as you guessed. She knew who she was going with." (He meant his own call from Beards, about the murderer Mrs. Alden has given him the exact facts.) "But unless I tell you, you can't guess a thousand years." He leaned over and looked mischievously at Hayter.

"Of course, Orville. I can't guess at all."

"Ah, do you know Griffith & Co. of Lycurgus?"

"Isn't it the people who make the collars?"

"Yeah, the collar guys."

"Not the son?" Fred Hayter opened his eyes wide.His eyes had never opened so wide in all these years, and his large dark hands gripped his beard.

"No, not a son, but a nephew!"

"Nephew! Samuel Griffiths? No way!" The coroner stroked his beard again and stared at this moral, religious, political, and business man. stare.

"That seems to be the way it should be explained, Fred, at least for now. But I'll go to-night, and I hope to find out more tomorrow. But this Alden girl--she's a poor farmer, knows Well, for Griffiths in Lycurgus, and this nephew, Clyde Griffiths, is, as far as I know, the director of the department in which she works."

"Tut! Tsk! Tsk!" exclaimed the coroner.

"She was at home for a month—ill, (he emphasized the word) just before she left for her trip last Tuesday. And during that time she wrote him at least ten letters, perhaps More. I got it from the country postman, and I have his testimony here." He patted his coat. "It's all addressed to Clyde Griffiths of Lycurgus. , I even have the number of his house, and the name of the house he lives in. I called there in Beards. I'm going to take the old man with me tonight, in case What's the matter, maybe he knows better."

"Yes, yes, Orville. I see, I see, it's the Griffiths'!" He clicked his tongue again.

"But what I want to talk to you about is the matter of the autopsy," said Mason now quickly and directly. "You know, I've always thought that he couldn't possibly want to kill him just because he wouldn't marry her. That doesn't make sense, in my opinion." Then he said something that led him to conclude that Roberta had died. Those thoughts of pregnancy, Hayter agreed with him immediately.

"Well, that means an autopsy will have to be done," Mason went on, "and a medical conclusion will have to be drawn on the nature of the injuries. We've got to be absolutely clear, Fred, And before the body is transported away from here, it is necessary to find out whether the woman was killed first and then thrown out of the boat, or just fainted and then thrown out, or just overturned the boat .It is of absolute importance to the case, as you know. Unless we can establish these facts, there is nothing we can do. But what about the medical people in this area? Do you think they have the ability to organize Take all these things with reason, so that what they say in court cannot be refuted."

Mason hesitated when he spoke.He is already preparing his case for prosecution.

"Well, about that, Orville," replied Hayt slowly. "I can't tell why. Maybe you have better judgment than I do. I've asked Dr. Mitchell to come and see her tomorrow, and Booz. But if you have any other doctor you like, Bavor, or How about Colewater's Lincoln, Bavor?"

"I think Furbster from Utiga is better," Mason went on. "Or Bemis, or both of them. In a case like this, four or five people's opinions are not too many."

Hayter, feeling now the heavy responsibility upon his shoulders, went on: "Well, I think you have a good idea, Orville. Perhaps four or five are better than one or two. But then the autopsy would have to be delayed for a while." Two days, wait until we find these people here before doing anything."

"Yes! Yes!" continued Mason. "But that's all right, because I'm going to Lycurgus to-night and see what I can find. It's hard to say. Maybe I can catch him, at least I hope so. If I can't, maybe I'll find something new to make this case clearer. Because it's going to be a big hit, Fred. I see that, and this is the toughest part of my life, maybe yours. case, and, from now on, we'll have to be very careful with every step we take. He's probably rich, you know. And if he does, he's going to fight back. And there's that family over there backing him .”

He ran a restless hand through his matted hair, and went on: "Well, that's all right. The second thing to do is to find Bemis and Webster in Utiga, preferably tonight." Send 'em a wire, eh, or call 'em. And Sprewer in Albany. Besides, for the sake of peace in this part of the world, maybe it's best to get Lincoln and Booz here too. , and maybe Bavor," he smiled very reluctantly, "well, I'm going, Fred. Try to get them to come on Monday or Tuesday, not tomorrow. I expect to be back by then. If That way, I can be with you. If you can, you'd better get them here, Monday, see, the sooner the better, then we'll see what we've figured out. "

He went to the drawer and found some other summonses.Then he went outside to explain to Alden the nature of his trip, and told Burleigh to call his wife.Burleigh explained to her the nature of his work and the reason for his haste, adding that he might not be back before Monday.

(End of this chapter)