american tragedy

Chapter 98

Chapter 31
Cadalaki County stretches from the north of the village of Three Mile Bay in the south to the Canadian border in the north. It is fifty miles long from north to south, and from Snart, Indian Lakes to Rockscave Lake in the east. Such as Kunz, Grass Lake, North Wallace, Brown Lake.The county government is based in Bridgeburg, with a population of less than [-].The town's central square is the seat of the county's historic courthouse.There is a dome on the building with a clock on top of which doves sit.The town's four main commercial streets are all in front of the courthouse.

On Friday, July [-]th, in the county coroner's office, there was a coroner named Fred Hayter.He was tall and strong, with a mustache, like a Mormon elder.He is huge regardless of face, hands, feet and waist size.

It's 02:30 in the afternoon here, and he's lounging through the mail-order order his wife told him to open.He calculated the price of the goods and prepared to buy shoes, jackets, and hats for his five greedy children, and also a large and comfortable coat with a high collar, a wide belt, and large buttons that are very handsome, He stopped and thought regretfully: the family budget is three thousand dollars a year, which is definitely not enough for this winter's luxury, besides, his wife has been thinking about a fur coat for three years.

While thinking about it, the crisp ringtone of the phone interrupted his thoughts.

"Yes, I'm Haight. Wallace Upham of Great Berton. How? Wallace... a young man and woman drowned... Well, wait a minute..."

He turned to the political young man who was paid as "Secretary to the Coroner." "Write this down, Earl." Then he raised the microphone again, "Okay, Wallace, tell me everything...the wife's body was found, the husband's body was not found...well, a boat Turned over on the south bank...and the unbranded hat...her mouth, eye bruises...her coat and hat at the hotel...well, there was a letter in the coat...to whom? Mrs. Titus Alden of Beards, Mee Valley County... They're still recovering the man's body, aren't they? No sign of him yet... Got it. Okay, Wallace, I'll let you know Yours. Let them leave that coat and that hat there. Let me think about it... It's 02:30, I'll be there at four. Is there a hotel car to pick you up? Yes? Yes, I'll take a ride, Of course...and, hopefully, you'll get the names of everyone who's seen the body salvaged. What? The water must be at least eighteen feet deep? A veil on the oarlocks?...Well, ok, that's it... Okay, you tell them not to touch those things, I'll be right there. Um, thanks, bye."

Hayter put down the microphone slowly, stood up from the chair, stroked his beard, and glanced at Earl Newcomb, who was a typist, clerical, and all chores.

"Have you got it all down, Earl?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, you'd better come with me, we have a three-ten. You can fill out several summonses on the bus. I suggest you take fifteen or twenty, just in case. Then send all Take the names of all who were there. Also, it would be best to ring up Mrs. Hatter and say that I'm unlikely to be going back to dinner tonight, I'm afraid I won't catch the last train, and I might spend the night there. There might be something wrong with the case, so it’s better to be on the safe side.”

He turned and went to an old house to take down a big straw hat.The drooping hat brim further showed his bulging eyes and bushy beard.He looks vicious, but in fact he is very kind.Everything was ready, and he said, "I'll go to the sheriff, Earl, and you'd better call up the Republic and the Democracy and tell them that we don't want anyone to think we're looking down on them. , I'll wait for you at the train station." Then he went out.

Earl Newcomb, the lad was a tall, shaggy-haired guy of about nineteen, usually grave.He immediately grabbed a handful of summonses, pocketed them, called Mrs. Haight, and then told the newspaper about it.Then he hurried down the hall, but at the open door of the District Attorney's office he met Zella Saunders, an spinster.She is a stenographer for Orville Dan Mason, a well-known local district attorney.Noticing Earl's haste, she called out, "Hey, Earl, what's the hurry for you, running so fast?"

"I hear that two men have been drowned in Great Berton. I'm going with Mr. Haight. The three-ten train."

"Who said this, is it from here?"

"I don't know, probably not. That girl has a letter on her body, addressed to Beards, Migu County. I'll tell you later, or call you."

"My God, if it was murder, then Mr. Mason would like to know too, wouldn't he?"

"Of course, I'll tell him, and maybe Mr. Haight will be there too. If you run into Buddy Pike or Karel Budnal, please tell them I'm out. Also, would you please Give my mom a call, I'm afraid I won't have time to do it myself."

"Of course, Earl."

"Thank you."

His boss was usually dull, so Newcombe was very interested in this new thing.He was very happy, bouncing down the steps.And Miss Sanders' boss was out on business, and there was no one else in her office, so she walked towards the auditor's office.She wants to spread the news to the people there.

(End of this chapter)