A BEARTOWN MYSTERY
"The fight happened last May 30th, and
it's just now coming to court," said Brumble, the
attorney for young Marley Watt. "I really hadn't
given my client much of a chance. A neighbor saw the
whole thing and said Watt struck Mr. Jones first."
"What changed your mind so suddenly?" asked the
Beartown Constable.
"A new witness, Jessie Lawson, turned up yesterday.
He's a buddy of Watt's and claims to have seen the fight
from the bank directly across the street. His version is
that Mr. Jones hit Watt first. I want you to check his
story before I put him on the stand."
The Beartown Constable consented. Jessie Lawson was
ushered in and related what he had seen.
"I'd gone into the Beartown Savings Bank to make a
deposit, but it was lunchtime, and there were long lines
in front of all the cashiers. I didn't feel like waiting
so I left. As I got to the door I had a perfect view of
Marley and Mr. Jones approaching each other on the
opposite sidewalk. Marley had told me how Old Man Jones
was always badgering him. Marley said that whenever Jones
tried to start something he'd just turn and walk away.
This time Old Jones wouldn't let him walk away and
punched him twice in the jaw. Marley reached up to ward
off another blow and Jones tripped and hit his neck
against Marley's raised hand. That's when the neighbor
looked out. She saw Jones stagger and fall to the
pavement on his face. I guess he got the brain concussion
from falling so hard."
"Why didn't you speak up at the time instead of
letting two months pass?" asked the Beartown
Constable.
"I---I didn't want to get involved," stammered
Jessie, "I spent some time in jail awhile ago."
"And you'll do more time for perjury if you ever
repeat that story under oath," stated the Beartown
Constable.
How did he know something was wrong
with Jessie Lawson's story? Check the next issue of Beartown
News for the answer.
LAST ISSUE'S SOLUTION: The will
could not have been found between pages 37 and 38. The
right hand page of a book is odd numbered and it's
backside has the next number: an even number. It is
impossible to insert something into a single page!
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