He found the doctor an individual with an exaggerated idea of his own importance. It was hard to bind him down to tell what he actually knew and it took the detective the best part of an hour to learn that the physician knew nothing of real importance.
A short while later Adam Adams learned that the farmer who had been seen going past the mansion was named Cephas Carboy. He was a strange individual, of no education, who lived on a hillside road, running some distance to the rear of the Langmore house. When the detective arrived there he found Carboy sitting under a tree smoking a short clay pipe. The farm was a neglected one, the house about ready to tumble down, and in the dooryard were half a dozen dirty and ragged children, who scampered out of sight on the approach of a stranger.
"Good morning," said Adam Adams cheerfully. He saw at a glance that the fellow before him was a thoroughly shiftless character.
"Mornin' to you," was the short response.
"This is Mr. Cephas Carboy?"
"Cephas Carboy's my name—ain't much of a mister to it," and the man grinned feebly.
"You're the man I want to see, Carboy," and the detective took a seat on a log close by.
"Want to see me? What fer? I don't know you."
"I want to see you about that Langmore murder."
The shiftless man stared and withdrew his pipe from his mouth with trembling fingers.