‘And you just guessed it?’ asked Nan wonderingly.
‘Somethin’ like that, Nan. I figured that you and Rex had a secret between yuh. Would yuh mind takin’ me down to the corral and showin’ me just how the body lay, and all that?’
‘And—and you don’t blame us for what we done?’ asked Nan.
‘Certainly not; I’d have done the same. C’mon.’
They all went down to the corral, where Nan explained all about the position of the body, and how they had secured the horse from the willows across the stream and had managed to rope the body to the saddle.
Hashknife listened closely, questioning both of them as to small details, and even examined the dust closely, where Peter Morgan’s body had lain. Nan pointed out the place where the horse had been tied, and Rex took Hashknife over to the spot where he secured the horse.
The ground was fairly soft along the creek, and Hashknife was able to distinguish the tracks of the shod horse.
‘Mr. Morgan must have left his horse here while he went over to the corner of the stable,’ said Rex.
Hashknife grunted, as he studied the tracks closely. From where they stood, the horse would have been invisible to any one at the ranch-house. The presumption would have been that Morgan rode up to the willows from that side of the creek, not taking any chances of being seen; but the tracks showed that the horse had crossed the stream twice; one set of tracks, of course, being made when Rex took the animal over to the corral. It proved that the rider had come in past the corral, crossed the creek, and tied the horse over there.
They came back to the bank of the little creek, where Hashknife stopped again to examine the tracks. The stream was about four feet wide and two feet deep at this point. Rex sprang across and went back to the corral fence, while Hashknife squatted on his heels on the creek bank.