CHAPTER VII
Hunting Broken Bones
Millbank cherished its tragedy as something
that gave it pre-eminence among its
neighbours, and half the male population turned detectives
on the spot. To many members of the community,
however, the affair bore a most serious aspect,
heightened by the conviction that no actual
progress had been made towards the solution of the
mystery. Such men as McManus, the county attorney,
and the town counsel, looked upon the testimony
which tended to implicate Oldbeg as a concession
to the public demand that something should
be done, and as covering rather than revealing the
serious business of the investigation. They were
inclined to be indignant at what they regarded as
the direction of unjust suspicion against an innocent
person, and the more so when they saw how public
sentiment was roused against the unfortunate man.
In fact, there were whispers among the least re-
