Betts' jealousy proved an obstacle to his ambitious design. In
view of this he was regretful, but not surprised when the
hard-ridden miles covered by dusty men and reeking horses yielded
only failure.
"If I had shot that poor boy, I wouldn't ask any surer guarantee
of safety than to have that fool Betts with his microscopic brain
working in unhampered asininity on the case," he told Mahaffy.
"Is it your idea that you are enlarging your circle of intimate
friends by the way you go about slamming into folks?" inquired
Mahaffy, with harsh sarcasm.
Later, the judge was shocked at what he characterized as official
apathy. It became a point on which he expressed himself with
surpassing candor.
"Do they think the murderer's going to come in and give himself
up?--is that the notion?" he demanded heatedly of Mr. Saul.
"The sheriff owns himself beat, Sir; the murderer's got safely
away and left no clue to his identity."
The judge waived this aside.
"Clues, sir? If you mean physical evidence the eye can
apprehend, I grant it; the murderer has got away; certainly he's
been given all the time he needed, but what about the motive that
prompted the crime? An intelligently conducted examination such
as I am willing to undertake might still bring it to light.
Isn't it known that Norton was attacked a fortnight ago as he was
leaving Belle Plain? He recovers and is about to be married to
Miss Malroy when he is shot at the church door; I'll hazard the
opinion the attack was in the nature of a warning for him to keep
away from Belle Plain.
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