“That’s what I think. But if he didn’t take his life, how—I mean, what happened?”
“Simple enough. Burnnel and Emery met Frischette on the trail, discovered that he had the poke and murdered him. Then, having committed the crime, they became afraid. In order to save their own necks, they devised a scheme so that it will appear that the Frenchman had taken his own life. They probably arranged the body to bear out the story, placing a revolver in Frischette’s hand. They emptied the poke, hid its contents, and then came back here, intending, as they both openly admitted, to get in touch with the police.”
“Well, that is a lot more plausible than the suicide story. Do you think that Corporal Rand was taken in by it?”
“No; not in the least. They won’t be able to fool him for a minute. When they return here tonight, I’ll be willing to wager every cent I have that Burnnel and Emery are still under arrest.”
“I won’t take your bet,” said Sandy. “That’s my belief too.”
Imagine their surprise, therefore, less than four hours later, to witness the return of Corporal Rand and to perceive that he was unaccompanied. Burnnel and Emery were not with him. The horses which had borne the two prospectors to the scene of the tragedy, trotted behind the policeman’s horse at the end of a lead-rope, saddled but unmounted.
It seemed incredible to the boys that Rand, usually so careful and cautious in matters of this kind, should permit the two miscreants to slip out of his hands. It was not like him. What could be the reason for it? They could hardly wait for the policeman to dismount.
“I found everything,” said Rand a few minutes later, “just as Burnnel and Emery told us. It is unquestionably a case of suicide. Everything pointed to it. The revolver gripped in Frischette’s hand, the position of the body and the wound in his forehead. But what caused him to commit such a rash act, is a problem which we may never solve.”
While the corporal was speaking, Dick could scarcely contain himself. On two or three different occasions he started to interrupt the policeman. At the very first opportunity he broke forth:
“Corporal Rand,” he began earnestly, “you have made your investigations and, no doubt, are in a better position than we are to form an opinion. But has it occurred to you that there is something unusually mysterious about the whole affair. Sandy and I were talking it over just before you came in. And no matter from what angle we look at it, we can draw but one conclusion.”