y were uneven steps as Santoine
heard them; then Avery stopped once more.

"What is it you want to know, sir?"

"Who killed Warden?"

"John Yarrow is his name; he was a sort of hanger-on of Latron's. I
don't know where Latron picked him up."

"Was it he who also made the attack on the train?"

"Yes."

"Who was the other man on the train--the one that claimed the telegram
addressed to Lawrence Hillward?"

"His name's Hollock. He's the titular owner of the place on the
Michigan shore where Latron has been living. The telegram I sent night
before last was addressed to his place, you know. He's been a sort of
go-between for Latron and the men--those who knew--who were managing
the properties. I'd never met him, though, Mr. Santoine, and I didn't
know either him or Hollock on the train. As I said, I wasn't in the
know about killing Warden."

"When did you learn who Eaton was, Avery?"

"The day after we got back here from the West I got word from Latron;
they didn't tell me till they needed to use me." Avery hesitated; then
he went on--he was eager now to tell all he knew in his belief that by
doing so he was helping his own case. "You understand, sir, about
Latron's pretended death--a guide at the shooting lodge had been killed
by a chance shot in the woods; purely accidental; some one of the party
had fired at a deer, missed, and never knew he'd killed a man with the
waste shot. When the guide didn't come back to camp, they looked for
him and found his body. He was a man who never would be missed or
inquired for and was very nearly Latron's size; and that gave Latron
the idea.

"At first there was no idea of pretending he had been murdered; it was
the coroner who first suggested that. Things looked ugly for a while,
under the circumstances, as they were made public. Either the scheme
might come out or some one else be charged as the murderer. That put
it up to Overton. He'd actually been up there to see Latron and had
had a scene with him which had been witnessed. That part--all but the
evidence which showed that he shot Latron afterwards--was perfectly
true. He thought that Latron, as he was about to go to trial, might be
willing to give him information which would let him save something from
the fortune he'd lost through Latron's manipulations. The
circumstances, motive, everything was ready to convict Overton; it
needed very little more to complete the case against him."

"So it was comple