"I want to tell all of you the whole story," he began. "To-morrow I
shall go to the district attorney and confess, but--I want you all to
have it first. I can't sleep again until I get it off my chest. Mrs.
Pitman has suffered through me, and Mr. Holcombe here has spent money
and time--"
Lida did not speak, but she drew her chair closer, and put her other
hand over his.
"I want to get it straight, if I can. Let me see. It was on Sunday,
the fourth, that the river came up, wasn't it? Yes. Well, on the
Thursday before that I met you, Mr. Holcombe, in a restaurant in
Pittsburgh. Do you remember?"
Mr. Holcombe nodded.
"We were talking of crime, and I said no man should be hanged on
purely circumstantial evidence. You affirmed that a well-linked chain
of circumstantial evidence could properly hang a man. We had a long
argument, in which I was worsted. There was a third man at the
table--Bronson, the business manager of the Liberty Theater."
"Who sided with you," put in Mr. Holcombe, "and whose views I refused
to entertain because, as publicity man for a theater, he dealt in
fiction rather than in fact.
Pages:
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171