第45章

LORD，howshehasBLED！Didyoueverseesomuch——

that’smurder——that’scold-bloodedmurder。He’skilledher。Say，wemustgetapoliceman。Comeon。“

Theyturnedbackthroughthehouse。Halfadozenpeople——

thewild-gamepeddler，themanwiththebroad-brimmedhat，thewashwoman，andthreeothermen——wereinthefrontroomofthejunkshop，abankofexcitedfacessurgedatthedoor。Beyondthis，outside，thecrowdwaspackedsolidfromoneendofthealleytotheother。OutinPolkStreetthecablecarswerenearlyblockedandwerebuntingawayslowlythroughthethrongwithclangingbells。Everywindowhaditsgroup。AndasTrinaandtheharness-makertriedtoforcethewayfromthedoorofthejunkshopthethrongsuddenlypartedrightandleftbeforethepassageoftwoblue-coatedpolicemenwhocloveapassagethroughthepress，workingtheirelbowsenergetically。Theywereaccompaniedbyathirdmanincitizen’sclothes。

HeiseandTrinawentbackintothekitchenwiththetwopolicemen，thethirdmanincitizen’sclothesclearedtheintrudersfromthefrontroomofthejunkshopandkeptthecrowdback，hisarmacrosstheopendoor。

“Whew！“whistledoneoftheofficersastheycameoutintothekitchen，“cuttingscrape？ByGeorge！SOMEBODY’S

beenusinghisknifeallright。“Heturnedtotheotherofficer。“Bettergetthewagon。There’saboxonthesecondcornersouth。Now，then，“hecontinued，turningtoTrinaandtheharness-makerandtakingouthisnote-bookandpencil，“Iwantyournamesandaddresses。“

Itwasadayoftremendousexcitementfortheentirestreet。

Longafterthepatrolwagonhaddrivenaway，thecrowdremained。Infact，untilseveno’clockthateveninggroupscollectedaboutthedoorofthejunkshop，whereapolicemanstoodguard，askingallmannerofquestions，advancingallmannerofopinions。

“Doyouthinkthey’llgethim？“askedRyerofthepoliceman。

Adozenneckscranedforwardeagerly。

“Hoh，we’llgethimallright，easyenough，“answeredtheother，withagrandair。

“What？What’sthat？Whatdidhesay？“askedthepeopleontheoutskirtsofthegroup。Thoseinfrontpassedtheanswerback。

“Hesaysthey’llgethimallright，easyenough。“

Thegrouplookedatthepolicemanadmiringly。

“He’sskippedtoSanJose。“

Wheretherumorstarted，andhow，nooneknew。ButeveryoneseemedpersuadedthatZerkowhadgonetoSanJose。

“Butwhatdidhekillherfor？Washedrunk？“

“No，hewascrazy，Itellyou——crazyinthehead。Thoughtshewashidingsomemoneyfromhim。“

Frennadidabigbusinessalldaylong。Themurderwastheonesubjectofconversation。Littlepartiesweremadeupinhissaloon——partiesoftwosandthrees——togooverandhavealookattheoutsideofthejunkshop。HeisewasthemostimportantmanthelengthandbreadthofPolkStreet；almostinvariablyheaccompaniedtheseparties，tellingagainandagainoftheparthehadplayedintheaffair。

“Itwasabouteleveno’clock。Iwasstandinginfrontoftheshop，whenMrs。McTeague——youknow，thedentist’swife——

camerunningacrossthestreet，“andsoonandsoon。

Thenextdaycameafreshsensation。PolkStreetreadofitinthemorningpapers。TowardsmidnightonthedayofthemurderZerkow’sbodyhadbeenfoundfloatinginthebaynearBlackPoint。Nooneknewwhetherhehaddrownedhimselforfallenfromoneofthewharves。Clutchedinbothhishandswasasackfullofoldandrustypans，tindishes——fullyahundredofthem——tincans，andironknivesandforks，collectedfromsomedumpheap。

“Andallthis，“exclaimedTrina，“onaccountofasetofgolddishesthatneverexisted。“

CHAPTER17

Oneday，aboutafortnightafterthecoroner’sinquesthadbeenheld，andwhentheexcitementoftheterribleaffairwascalmingdownandPolkStreetbeginningtoresumeitsmonotonousroutine，OldGrannissatinhisclean，well-keptlittleroom，inhiscushionedarmchair，hishandslyingidlyuponhisknees。Itwasevening；notquitetimetolightthelamps。OldGrannishaddrawnhischairclosetothewall——

soclose，infact，thathecouldhearMiss