“By getting up on the bank, looking down in the pool, I could see the submerged branches of that dead tree. Sure enough, on one of those branches was part of a leader, just wrapped around the snag, and a hook was on the end of the leader. Because I was curious, I took off my clothes, worked my way down into the water and got that fly out. Gosh, it was cold.”
The sheriff reached in his pocket, took out a little fly book, opened it, and showed a section of leader and a Royal Coachman fly.
“Same kind Frank Ames uses,” he said. “You can see a little piece of the fish’s lip still stuck on the hook. The way I figure it, Ames hadn’t hooked him too solid, but he had him hooked well enough to land, but as soon as the fish got in that submerged tangle of branches and wrapped the line around a branch, he only had to give one jerk to tear the hook loose. Now, Ames wouldn’t have let that fish get over in the submerged branches unless something had distracted his attention. That something must have been something he heard, because his eyes were busy looking at the water.”
Abruptly Bill Eldon turned to look at her. “What made you scream?”
She pressed white knuckles against her lips. “I’m going to tell you,” she said.
“I’ve known that, ever since I — ever since I left Frank Ames. I was just walking to... well, the mountains seem to do so much for him — I wish I could feel about them the way he does. Sometimes I think I’m beginning to.
“I was just out of college,” she continued, “a naive little heiress. This man was working for Harvey Dowling. He was both a secretary and general assistant. His name was Howard Maben. He was fascinating, dashing. Women simply went wild over him. And I fell in love with him.”
“What happened?”
“We were secretly married.”
“Why the secrecy?”
“It was his idea. We ran away across the state line to Yuma, Arizona. Howard said he had to keep it secret.”
“Did you know Harvey Dowling then?”
“Yes. Harvey, and Martha, his wife. It was her death that caused the scandal.”
“What scandal?”
She said, “I don’t know if I can explain Howard to you so you’ll understand him. He’s a dashing, high-pressure type of man who was a great favorite with women. He loved to sell things, himself included. I mean by that he liked to make a sale of his personality. I don’t think there’s any question but what he’d get tired of home life within the first thirty days.
“Well, anyway, I guess — it’s something I don’t like to talk about, but... well, I guess Howard had been— Well, Martha Dowling was attractive. She was an older woman. Harvey was always busy at the office, terribly intent on the deals he was putting across, and— Well, they fooled H. W. and they fooled me.
“Apparently Howard started going with Martha Dowling. They were very discreet about it, pretty cunning, as a matter of fact. They’d never go except when Harvey Dowling was out of town, and... well, I guess they stayed at motor courts. It was a mess.”
“Go ahead,” Bill Eldon said.
“Harvey Dowling was on a two weeks’ trip. He was in Chicago, and Howard made certain he was in Chicago, because he’d talked with him that morning on long-distance telephone. Then he and Martha went out. They looked over some property that Harvey Dowling wanted a report on, and then... well, they went to an auto camp. They didn’t like to be seen in restaurants. Howard had brought a little camp kit of dishes and cooking utensils, one of those outfits that folds up to fit into a suitcase.”
“Go ahead.”
“Martha Dowling got sick, some form of an acute gastroenteric disturbance. Well, naturally, they didn’t want to call a doctor until after she got home. She died in Howard’s car on the road home. Of course, Howard tried to fix up a story, but the police began to investigate and put two and two together. Harvey was called from Chicago by his wife’s death and talked with the servants and... well, you can see what happened.”
“What did happen?”
“Howard knew the jig was up. It seems he’d been left in charge of Dowling’s business. He was already short in his accounts. So he embezzled everything he could get his hands on and skipped out.
“Dowling left no stone unturned to get him. He spent thousands of dollars. The police finally caught Howard and sent him to prison. No one knows that I was married to him. I was able to get the marriage annulled. I was able to prove fraud, and... well, of course, I’d been married in Arizona, so I went there and I had a friendly judge and a good lawyer and — there you are. There’s the skeleton in my closet.”
“I still don’t know what made you scream,” the sheriff said.
“I saw Howard. You see, his sentence has expired. He’s out.”
“Now, then,” Bill Eldon remarked, “we’re getting somewhere. Where was he when you saw him?”
“In the deep shadows of a clump of pines, well off the trail. I saw just his head and shoulders. He turned. Then he whistled.”
“Whistled?”
“That’s right. Howard had a peculiar shrill whistle we used to have as a signal when he wanted me to know he was near the house where I stayed. I’d let him in by the side door. It was a peculiar whistle that set my teeth on edge. It affected me just like the sound of someone scraping his nails along rough cloth. I hated it. I asked him to use some other signal, but he only laughed and said someone else might imitate any other call, but that whistle was distinctively his. It was harsh, strident, metallic. When he whistled yesterday, I felt positively sick at my stomach — and then I turned and ran just as fast as I could go.”
“You aren’t mistaken?”
“In that whistle? Never!”
“See his face?”
“Not clearly. The man was standing in the deep shadows. It was Howard. He had a rifle.”
“Who else knows Howard Maben — that is, in your party?”
“Mr. Dowling is the only one; but that girl, Sylvia — I think she went back to dig up some of the old newspaper files. She’s made remarks about Mrs. Dowling’s death... well, questions. You understand, it’s a subject that’s taboo in Dowling’s crowd.”
“How was your ex-husband dressed when you saw him?”
“I only had a quick glimpse. I couldn’t say.”
“Wearing a hat?”
“Yes, a big Western hat.”
“Now, then, try and get this one right,” the sheriff said. “Had he been shaved lately?”
“Heavens, I couldn’t tell that. He was in the shadows, but he could see me plainly and that’s why he whistled for me to come to him.”
“I’m wondering whether he’d been sort of hanging around for a while, watching your camp, or whether he just came in yesterday. I’d certainly like to know if he was shaved.”
“I really couldn’t see.”
“And you didn’t tell anyone about this?”
“No.”
“Now, how much did Dowling know about you and Maben?”
“He knew that we were going together. I guess that’s one of the reasons Harvey Dowling didn’t suspect his wife. It was a nasty mess... well, you know how Dowling would feel. We’ve never talked much about it.”
“I know,” Bill Eldon said, his eyes looking off into space, “but there’s still something I don’t get about it.”
She said, “All right, I suppose I’ve been a sneak. I suppose I’m living a lie; but I didn’t want anyone to know about my marriage.”
“On account of Dick Nottingham?”
Her eyes snapped around in startled appraisal. “How did you—?”