“‘He had a good reason for wanting to keep dark, and I suppose he ran away to prevent being compelled to testify where he was Memorial Day afternoon and evening.’
“‘You know where he was, then?’
“‘Yes; he was here at the hotel. I tell you this because I want you to know that he is innocent. Felton is a good friend of mine, and I thought perhaps if you knew how the facts were you might see your way clear to letting him down as easy as possible in the paper.’ I assured him that my specialty was setting folks right and then Thayer told off the following story:
“About 2 o’clock on the afternoon of Memorial Day a woman arrived at Raymond on the afternoon train from the south, came to this hotel and registered as ‘Isabel Winthrop.’ She was superbly dressed and displayed an abundance of jewels. According to Thayer, whose head was completely turned by her appearance, she was magnificently, phenomenally beautiful. You can take that for what it is worth. Thayer assigned her a room and showed her to it. As she passed in she requested him to send a messenger to acquaint Ralph Felton that a lady desired to see him. Finding him was an easy task, as he was at that moment playing poker in a room in the hotel. Felton appeared somewhat surprised when called out, but threw up the game and went to the woman’s room. That was the last Thayer saw of him for an hour, when Felton left the hotel. His face was flushed and he seemed to be laboring under strong excitement. Before he left he called Thayer to one side. ‘John,’ said he, ‘if you are a friend of mine say nothing about my caller to-day. You understand?’
“I remarked casually: ‘Then he returned to the hotel that afternoon?’
“‘Oh, yes,’ said he.
“‘And was there during the evening?’
“‘Yes, I noticed him in the office at the time the alarm over the bank affair was sounded. He left the hotel then and I did not see him again that night.’
“‘Well,’ I asked pointedly, ‘can you swear that Felton was in the hotel between 7:45 and 8:30 the evening of Memorial Day?’ I never saw a chap so taken back as was Thayer. He could not locate Felton at any particular time during the evening; moreover, he could not say positively that the Winthrop woman spent the evening in her room. He supposed she did. The only point that Thayer was sure of was that the woman left for the south on the first train the next morning.
“‘Thayer,’ said I, consolingly, ‘the only way I see to clear your absent friend is to find this Winthrop woman. Describe her to me as accurately as you can.’ He did so and I have a pretty good pen portrait of the unknown in my memorandum-book, marked ‘Exhibit A.’