“If he didn’t commit suicide, what happened to him?”
“The squaw shot him—MacGregor’s wife.”
One might have thought that Rand had been shot himself. He jumped. It was several moments before he fully recovered from his surprise.
“How do you know that MacGregor’s wife shot him?”
“She told me so herself.”
“When?”
“The night her and Emery and Burnnel took the keys away from me, that night across the Hay River. Flew into a rage and spilled everything. I guess she’d have shot me too, but Burnnel wouldn’t let her.”
“If what you say is true, how can you account for the note I found in Frischette’s pocket?”
“She made Frischette write it before she shot him. Then she came back to my cabin and searched everywhere for the keys. They were there, but she couldn’t find them. My place looked like a wreck. After that she met Burnnel and Emery who had come back to try to get the poke again. The next morning she stayed out there in the woods while them two prospectors went over to see you.”
“And did she stay in the woods until the afternoon of the next day?”