“That’s the whole story?” Kirby said.

“The whole story.  I’d swear it on a stack of Bibles.”

“Did you fix the rope for a lariat up on the roof or wait till you came back to the fire escape?”

“I fixed it on the roof—­made the loop an’ all there.  Figured I might be seen if I stood around too long on the platform.”

“So that you must ‘a’ been away quite a little while.”

“I reckon so.  Prob’ly a quarter of an hour or more.”

“Can you locate more definitely the exact time you heard the shot?”

“No, I don’t reckon I can.”

Kirby asked only one more question.

“You left next mornin’ for Dry Valley, didn’t you?”

“Yes.  None o’ my business if they stuck Hull for it.  He was guilty as sin, anyhow.  If he didn’t kill the old man, it wasn’t because he didn’t want to.  Maybe he did.  The testimony at the inquest, as I read the papers, left it that maybe the blow on the head had killed Cunningham.  Anyhow, I wasn’t gonna mix myself in it.”

Kirby said nothing.  He looked out of the window of his room without seeing anything.  His thoughts were focused on the problem before him.

The other man stirred uneasily.  “Think I did it?” he asked.

The cattleman brought his gaze back to the Dry Valley settler.  “You? 
Oh, no!  You didn’t do it.”

There was such quiet certainty in his manner that Olson drew a deep breath of relief.  “By Jupiter, I’m glad to hear you say so.  What made you change yore mind?”

“Haven’t changed it.  Knew that all the time—­well, not all the time.  I was millin’ you over in my mind quite a bit while you were holdin’ out on me.  Couldn’t be dead sure whether you were hidin’ what you knew just to hurt Hull or because of your own guilt.”

“Still, I don’t see how you’re sure yet.  I might ‘a’ gone in by the window an’ gunned Cunningham like you said.”

“Yes, you might have, but you didn’t.  I’m not goin’ to have you arrested, Olson, but I want you to stay in Denver for a day or two until this is settled.  We may need you as a witness.  It won’t be long.  I’ll see your expenses are paid while you’re here.”

“I’m free to come an’ go as I please?”

“Absolutely.”  Kirby looked at him with level eyes.  He spoke quite as a matter of course.  “You’re no fool, Olson.  You wouldn’t stir up suspicion against yourself again by runnin’ away now, after I tell you that my eye is on the one that did it.”

The Swede started.  “You mean—­now?”

“Not this very minute,” Kirby laughed.  “I mean I’ve got the person spotted, at least I think I have.  I’ve made a lot of mistakes since I started roundin’ up this fellow with the brand of Cain.  Maybe I’m makin’ another.  But I’ve a hunch that I’m ridin’ herd on the right one this time.”

He rose.  Olson took the hint.  He would have liked to ask some questions, for his mind was filled with a burning curiosity.  But his host’s manner did not invite them.  The rancher left.