19. CHAN CLIMBS A LADDER
Don Holt walked up and down the small room excitedly. “It’s beginning to straighten out,” he continued. “The dog—I’m gettin’ that, too.”
Charlie nodded. “Good little Trouble. It was he who set me on correct trail that very first night. Already I had experienced my first doubts. Of the five unaccounted for at time of killing, not one offered alibi. You will recall I commented to you on that. Strange, I thought. The guilty, at least, usually has alibi ready and waiting. I wondered. Could it be that the guilty was not among those five? Could it be he was among those standing in my sight when supposedly fatal shot was fired?”
“Then we went out and talked with Mrs. O’Ferrell,” the young sheriff said.
“Correct. Landini had remarked she would take dog with her in the
