"Good!" said Oakes. "Now, Mr. Elliott, will you kindly retire with Dr. Moore, while Stone, Martin and I hear what the Chief has to say."
When Hallen came up, he seemed very cordial, but worried, and made no attempt to disguise the fact that he anticipated trouble with the unruly element in Mona by Saturday night.
"You see," he said, "we are few here, and I have been kept busy with the brewing uneasiness in town and cannot handle the murder affair satisfactorily. I have come to ask you to help me, if you are sufficiently at leisure. We cannot get any clues at all, save that the man was killed by a bullet of large calibre in the hands of a good shot, as the distance from which it was fired would seem to show. The road has been searched but nothing found, and the crowd that went with you to the dying man's side trampled away all clues on the ground.
"My men have reported to me the curious affair of last night," continued the Chief. "I suppose you have a explanation for it; in any event, it must be followed up. The people must be diverted, and more must be done at once than I can do. Will you help me?"
"Yes," said Oakes. "Of course!"
"Hello, what ails your head?" said the Chief, after thanking him.
And then Oakes told him as much as was necessary of the events of the day before.
"I am very glad your carpenters have arrived," said the Chief; "they may help." He smiled, as did Oakes. They understood one another—they were in similar lines of business.
"Now that I have a hand in this thing, let's all get acquainted," said Oakes; and he called in Moore and Elliott, and the discussion became general.
Elliott was admitted unreservedly to our councils, especially as Oakes knew that he held the keys to the conviction of the assassin—the witness.