"I am sorry, Rad," Mattison replied, "but it is my duty to arrest you."
"To arrest me, for what?" he asked with a half laugh.
"For the murder of your father."
Radnor put out his hand against the wall to steady himself, and his lips showed white in the lamp light. At the sight of his face I could have sworn that he was not acting, and that the news came with as much of a shock to him as it had to me.
"My father murdered!" he gasped. "What do you mean?"
"His dead body was found in the cave, and circumstantial evidence points to you."
He seemed too dazed to grasp the words and Mattison said it twice before he comprehended.
"Do you mean he's dead?" Rad repeated. "And I quarrelled with him last night and wouldn't make it up—and now it's too late."
"I must warn you," the sheriff returned, "that whatever you say will be used against you."